


Disney U

by Kamaro0917, Trousersquid



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies), Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Asexual Elsa (Disney), Awkward Flirting, Awkwardness, Bambi Lesbians, Deaf Character, Eventual Smut, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, Fluff, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Burn, Surprise Kissing, Useless Lesbians, demisexual cassandra
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-26 08:00:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 44,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21840112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kamaro0917/pseuds/Kamaro0917, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trousersquid/pseuds/Trousersquid
Summary: College can be rough. Fortunately when your new roommate is Rapunzel, there's always a bright side.
Relationships: Cassandra/Elsa (Disney: Tangled)
Comments: 46
Kudos: 94





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My wife and I started writing fics/stories for something fun and creative to do together, but this is our first go at posting something to the world.  
> Apologies in advance for any spelling or grammatical errors, neither of us were English majors and we did our best to edit as we went.  
> Please leave comments or feedback along the way, we'd like to start posting more stories and would like to know what you all like or suggestions for directions for the story to go :)

Cassandra sighed as she looked at the dormitory, mildly regretting her choice to go straight into the army after high school. She was 21 and a freshman, and therefore had to live in the freshman dorm at least one semester. University policy BS or something. She pulled her oversized army rucksack onto her shoulder, staring at the door. It contained all she had that mattered, and while she had a monthly stipend from the government for her service and could have easily afforded more stuff, she just didn't care about material things. Except her weapons, which she reluctantly had to keep in storage. She had served on the front lines, she could handle these college kids. She flicked a shoulder-length dark brown curl out of her face and stepped forward into the fray that was Move-In Day. Only a few times did she resort to practically lifting someone up and moving them out of her way as she walked down the crowded hallways.

Rapunzel looked up at the dorm building in wide-eyed wonder. She'd never thought, never dreamed she could end up here, doing this! She was going to college. And living in the dorms! She had a full schedule of art classes with a couple gen eds thrown in, and she was sure it was going to be a great year. She waited in line patiently, chatting up anyone close enough to hear her voice as they made their way through the madness of Move-In Day. Finally, it was her turn to receive her key and room assignment. She clutched the envelope and its contents to her chest and grinned, rushing to her car (recently bought for her by her parents) to take up her first load of stuff. Her parents had wanted to come, but she didn't want to cause a stir. The mayor coming to help his long-lost daughter move in to college was one heck of a news story, and she just wanted a normal college experience. She made her way up to floor 11 and looked at the door numbers until she found 1114. Gratefully, it was already open so she pushed the door open and carried her heavy arm-loads of stuff inside, her long blonde hair swinging in a giant braid behind her.

Cassandra had already made her bed and put her few outfits into her closet. She was rummaging through her bag, not particularly paying any attention to what was around her and she had taken out her hearing aids for a little peace and quiet from the running and screaming.

Rapunzel grinned when she saw her roommate (she had a roommate!) and quickly set her things down on the unclaimed bed. "Hi! It's so nice to meet you, I just know we're going to have a great year! I'm Rapunzel!"

Cassandra kept going about her business, not hearing Rapunzel enter, her messy wavy brown hair was the perfect length to make a curtain from the world when she wanted it to. She hummed quietly to herself, or at least she thought she was. Her word pronunciation hadn’t been affected by her injury, but she was unable to discern how loudly or quietly she was speaking. Often when she thought she was talking normally but was actually screaming. Her father had tried to help her with volume control, but considering much of his job was screaming at new recruits or just general road rage, his opinion was a little biased. He didn't seem to mind. How silly, something most people take for granted.

Rapunzel blinked, surprised that she'd just kept humming like she didn't notice her. _Oh, maybe she has headphones in!_ Rapunzel stepped up behind her and tapped her shoulder.

Cassandra whirled around, making a scared sound, though possibly angry sound? "what are you doing?" she managed, then reached for one of her hearing aids, shoving it into her ear, calming down a little after a few long breaths "Sorry. You scared me."

Rapunzel jumped a bit, watching her as she put in the hearing aid. _Oh! That makes sense._ She held up her hands, "I'm so sorry! I just wanted to introduce myself, since it looks like we're going to be roomies! I'm Rapunzel."

Cassandra raised an eyebrow "Roomies?" she sighed a little, annoyed that her request for a single room had apparently been lost in the mail, along with her other requests to be allowed to live off campus. Looks like she was stuck here, so may as well try to be nice "Cassandra." There was something familiar about Rapunzel, then it clicked "You're the one from the news..."

Rapunzel blushed and started playing with her braid. "Yeah, that's me." She chuckled a little uneasily, "I hope that doesn't bother you?"

Cassandra snorted "Only if it doesn't bother you that I will most likely 100% ignore you, not on purpose of course, just..." she gestured to her ears. "At least I'm good at ignoring gossip"

Rapunzel smiled, grateful that Cassandra didn't seem to think differently of her. "Oh, of course! Makes sense." She grinned, "Are you an upperclassman? No offense, you just look a little older than me."

"Army." Cassandra answered simply

“Oh! That makes sense too." Rapunzel chuckled, "Got it. Cool! Well, just let me know if there's anything I should be aware of. I for one don't really plan on having many people over or anything, I don't really know many people, so... yeah."

Cassandra just shrugged "don't touch my head to get my attention and we will be fine. Also, I get up early, but I'll try to be quiet."

Rapunzel nodded, "Got it. So, um, what's the best way to get your attention if I need to? Or at least the most respectful way?"

Cassandra sighed "Um, shoulder is fine. I just wasn't expecting anyone else in the room. Truthfully, I had requested a single. But now that I know you're around I won't freak out as much."

Rapunzel nodded, "Got it. Great! Okay, well, I guess I'll start getting settled. Do you want to go get dinner once we're settled in? Get to know each other better?"

Cassandra sighed again, but she had to admit, she was hungry. She had planned on keeping to herself and just getting through this semester, but Rapunzel was so... compelling, earnest, and warm. "Sure"

Rapunzel grinned, "Great! Okay, let's get to it, then." She happily got to work setting up everything just how she wanted it, putting on some music while she worked and singing along. She put posters on the wall that she'd painted herself, a bright colorful bedspread and pillow to match for the bed, and hung up a string of colored little flags from the ceiling with some little lantern lights strung around them. Soon enough, the space was just perfect.

Cassandra just sat on her bed reading a book while she waited for Rapunzel to finish. The girl had a very distinct style about her, so colorful and vibrant, she was starting to think it was just a physical expression of what she was feeling on the inside. "Did you make these yourself?"

Rapunzel grinned and nodded, "All but the bedspread and the lights, but I did paint the outside of them. It's not too much, is it?" She asked, suddenly self conscious.

“It's fine, it's you. Don't let anyone make you feel bad for that. And if they do, I'll kick their ass." Cassandra snorted, remembering all the high school teasing and bullying she had endured because she wanted to be like her father and go into the service instead of college.

Rapunzel smiled, her shoulders relaxing back into place. "Thank you. So! How about dinner? I'm so excited to try the cafeteria!"

Cassandra nodded "I'm always hungry." She got up and pulled on a sweatshirt, it was already a little chilly in the northern Minnesotan town of wherever the hell she was. She instantly regretted having her hearing aid in when she opened the door and was hit with a barrage of screaming and squealing as a hundred freshman girls zipped about. "I'm taking this out." she looked over to Rapunzel and pocketed the device.

Rapunzel chuckled and gave her a thumbs-up. She headed for the stairs, deciding that the elevators would be too high-traffic and she wasn't so fond of the enclosed space. The stairs were indeed less crowded, and she was grateful for that. They made it down to the ground floor unaccosted and snuck out the back door toward the cafeteria.

Cassandra followed, looking around. It made her feel a little uncomfortable to be down a sense with so much going on around her and she stuck close to Rapunzel. She sighed with relief once they were outside and put in her aid again "That was... wow."

Rapunzel nodded, "That was a bit much... Hopefully it won't be so bad once everyone's moved in."

"I agree... I can't imagine how loud it was in there, I could practically feel the sounds in my bones almost!" Cassandra took off at a brisk stride across the lawn, her stomach leading the way.

Rapunzel chuckled, "It was pretty darn loud." She followed Cassandra with a smile, excited to have made a new friend. "I can't wait to start classes... do you know what you're going to major in?"

“Uh... not really. I had actually thought I was going to be in the service my life... until the accident. They don't exactly give degrees for weapon mastery." Cassandra shrugged "What about you?"

“Definitely art for me. Something art related, at least. I think painting, that's what I've always loved." She grinned, "I know it's not something to make a living in, but... I love it."

Cassandra smiled a little "You should do what makes you happy."

"So should you." Rapunzel insisted back, "Whatever that is. I'm sure there's a way."

"We'll see." Cassandra's smile saddened a little, she had had her life planned out and suddenly that future was gone. "Oh, we're here." she held the door open for her.

Rapunzel grinned and rushed into the cafeteria with a gasp, "Oh, it all smells so good!"

Cassandra smelled deeply, it wasn't exactly good but it was definitely better than the mess hall she was used to. She liked cooking, maybe she would have to make something for them some time at the dorm kitchen. "Does anything ever dampen your spirits, Blondie?" she laughed a little.

"Small dark enclosed spaces, but other than that, nope!" She smiled, happily handing over her student ID to charge to her meal plan before getting herself a tray. "Where do we even start?"

Cassandra paid for her meal and grabbed two trays "Hmm... the hot line looks good. Pizza, wings, is that, Chicken Parmesan? Wow, fancier than I thought at first." she moved quickly, the growl in her stomach roaring. She put two plates on each tray and started loading up three, the fourth was for salad.

Rapunzel also grabbed a little of everything. She wanted to try it all! By the time she was finished, she had cereal, salad, five different samples of entrees and six different sides all on her tray as well as two different juice mixtures. She found a table and carefully sat down her tray before plopping herself down. "I... went a bit overboard, I think."

Cassandra found Rapunzel in the corner and sat down with her two trays "you think you went overboard?" she chuckled, cutting into the chicken parm.

Rapunzel looked at her trays and laughed, "I think we're enjoying ourselves, that's what we're doing!"

Cassandra nodded, moving on to a slice of pizza. "Agreed. And this is actually pretty good. I might apply to work here, actually, I saw a student employment flier on the way in."

"Oh, you should! I bet you'd get to take leftovers home, too." She grinned, biting into a beef patty thing with gravy.

Cassandra nodded "Flexible hours, one meal per shift, and get paid? I don't see a downside." She inhaled her food, she was used to having to eat quickly. Hard habit to break. She piled up the empty plates when she had finished "that hit the spot" she sighed happily, "great idea. Do you mind if I take a moment to apply for a job while we're here?" It wasn't really a question of permission, she was going to either way, but it seemed polite to offer. She got up and took the plates to the dish pit and went to go find the manager.

"Go right ahead!" Rapunzel watched her go and went back to her food. 

Griselda had been eyeing the two girls in the corner, waiting for her chance. When the big one moved away she sidled up next to the little blonde. "Well, aren't you just a little slice of sunshine?" she laid on her best sugary sweet voice "I'm Griselda, I think you'd be a perfect fit for our house! Kappa Iota Sigma house is taking recruits." she launched into the benefits of being a KIS girl. Private chef, a sisterhood of current and passed girls for support, and a well established reputation for volunteering at the local pet shelter.

Rapunzel looked up as she saw someone new approach. "Oh, really? That sounds amazing! I'd love to. What do I need to do?"

Griselda slid a paper over "Rush starts next week, I hope to see you there. I'll tell the house leaders to keep an eye out for you." she winked and got up and left, she could feel like she had Rapunzel hooked.

Cassandra returned shortly "Well, that was the easiest job application I've ever done."

Rapunzel took the paper with a smile, looking it over. She looked up when Cassandra returned, "Oh yeah? That's awesome!"

Cassandra nodded "Yep, guess they were really low on staff." she had grabbed a slice of cheesecake for each of them on her way back "just in case you still had room." she tucked into her slice.

Rapunzel grinned, "Thanks! I love cheesecake..." She chuckled, "What do you know about 'Rush'?"

"Uh, they were a band who hit it big in the 70's and 80's... I think 'Tom Sawyer' was one of their biggest hits."

Rapunzel snickered, "Well, apparently it's a thing here for sororities? I just got invited."

"Oh... that Rush..." Cassandra blushed "Um, not really my scene, but that's nice. You gonna do it?"

"Yeah! Why not? It sounds like fun!" She smiled.

Cassandra shrugged "Knock yourself out."

Rapunzel nodded, "I will. It'll be fun! And a great way to meet new people, I think."

"I think I'll leave the meeting new people to you." Cassandra chuckled and drank her milk

"Not big on new people?" She asked with a smile.

Cassandra shrugged "What gave you that impression? I think someone in high school once told me that a glacier was warmer than me."

Rapunzel laughed, "You're not that cold... just... particular. That's the impression I get from you, anyway."

Cassandra nodded "thanks... I'll try to be a little warmer, it couldn't hurt, right?"

"It couldn't hurt. But also, just... be yourself. Even if other people don't like it. That's their problem." She smiled.

Cassandra blinked, "I can't believe you just turned my own words on me."

Rapunzel smirked, "They're true, so why not?"

Cassandra grinned and shook her head a little "I have to say it, Blondie, you've got spunk."

Rapunzel put her hands on her hips with a grin, "Thanks! So do you." She elbowed her gently.

Cassandra shook her head again "So... What classes are you in? We should probably go to the bookstore."

"Oh, right! Yes. I've got Art 101 and 102, Sculpture, Art History, and Botany. You?"

"Oh really? I’m taking Art History, too. For the humanity elective credits… Otherwise, uh, math... English... a bunch of general stuff, until I figure out what I want to major in." Cassandra led the way out towards the bookstore.

Rapunzel smiled and nodded, "Good plan!"

Two hours later, Cassandra insisted on carrying all the books, a pre-work out warm up, she reasoned. "I think I'm going to hit the gym later, see what kind of facility they have."

Rapunzel giggled, "You're so strong... must be that military training, huh?"

"Yeah... I try to keep in shape, it's one of the few things I have control over." She tossed the books down onto the beds, going to her closet to fish out gym wear. "I'll see you later." she hurried out, following the signs for the athletic center. She was very impressed by the gym, they had an indoor track, Olympic size pool, sparring rooms, and weights... so many weights. She was in heaven. She paused at the bulletin board, taking note of a few, particularly the rugby team. She had never played, but it seemed like a good way to blow off steam, and also try to meet people, like Rapunzel had suggested. She worked out for a couple hours, an hour of running, then weight training. She returned to her dorm hot and tired, but feeling rather satisfied. She hit the showers before bed, grateful they were empty, no one to see the scars.

Rapunzel sat hunched over her sketchbook as she worked on her latest and greatest. She looked up when she saw Cassandra come back into the room and smiled at her, but she noticed something she hadn't seen before. _Were those scars on her face?_ It was hard to tell, and she didn't want to pry, so she didn't. "Good workout?"

Cassandra nodded "It was actually a really good gym! And, I took a little of your advice and I grabbed a flier for the club rugby team. Not sure if I'll actually go, but you know, meet new people. What are you working on?"

Rapunzel grinned, "That's so great! I'm just doing a bit of sketching, gotta keep the creative muscles flexing, right?"

Cassandra nodded as she turned her back to dry her hair. Once she'd finished she came over toward Rapunzel "Can I look?"

Rapunzel smiled and held out the sketchbook to her, showing her some sketches of Cassandra herself. "I hope you don't mind."

Cassandra gasped quietly when she saw the sketches "They're really good" she blushed a little and gave Rapunzel her book back "Well, I think I'm going to hit the hay, I'm on breakfast shift tomorrow."

Rapunzel grinned, positively giddy that Cassandra liked them. "Oh! Gotcha. Cool. I think I'll hit the hay too. It's been an exciting day!"

Cassandra pulled on some sweatpants and her sweatshirt, rolling into her bed with a groan. "Good night, Raps."

Rapunzel beamed at the nickname. She loved it. "Goodnight, Cass."

Cassandra slept soundly that night, excited to have work to look forward to the next day. 

  
Cassandra rose early and made it to her shift ten minutes early. She sat in the dark, unsure of what she should be doing. Most freshmen would have groaned at having to be up at 5:30 for work but she was usually up by 5 anyway, so it was actually an extra snooze. She would just have to try to get her work out in before class on school days, but it wasn't the end of the world if she only got one workout in a day, it was still more than most did in a week. She turned when she saw the lights flick on in the kitchen "Hello?"

Tiana stepped out from around the row of pans and utensils, sizing up the new gal. "Glad you made it. Not many students willing to work the early shift." She tossed her an apron with a smile, "Any experience behind a grill?"

“I'm a morning person." Cassandra grinned, putting on the apron "Name's Cassandra, and yes, I can work a grill. Omelettes? Pancakes? What are we talking here?"

Tiana smirked, "Good. I'm Tiana. Pancakes are a good place to start, I've got the recipes over here." She led her over to a binder and handed it over. "So, I don't remember seeing you around. Transfer?"

Cassandra flipped through the pages "Um... something like that. Ex-Army."

Tiana's eyes widened a bit and she smiled, "That's great. My dad was military. I have a feeling you're gonna do well here, Cassandra."

Cassandra stood a little taller, proud that Tiana knew what it meant. Most people just thought it was for people who were too unmotivated or failed to get into college. Hardly the case. "I got the grill covered, where is the larder? I mean, pantry."

Tiana jerked her thumb over at the pantry, "Go nuts. I'll be around if you have any questions."

Cassandra nodded and got to work, firing up the grill and grabbing supplies to start making a huge batch of pancakes.

Tiana worked on the eggs and meats, keeping an eye on Cassandra from a slight distance. She had a feeling she didn't need much oversight. It was a relief. "Enjoying it here so far?"

“So far. But it's only been a day, and a very loud day at that." Cassandra worked quickly. She had two flat tops going, each had 24 pancakes going each, which she had timed out perfectly that by the time she was done pouring one side it was time to flip the other, then she switched to flip the other side and she panned up the first. It was a pretty efficient routine "How long have you been here?"

Tiana smiled, "This is my third year. Working on a business and hospitality management degree. You?"

"Just... finding my way. Plans got a little derailed." Cassandra busied herself at the grill to avoid saying anything more. There was much more to that story, but it was very personal, and still hurt.

Tiana nodded, "Well, for what it's worth, I'm glad you're here." She'd leave it at that, clearly Cassandra didn't have much interest in adding onto that so she wouldn't ask. She worked quietly for a bit, working on getting the trays of food ready for the masses.

Cassandra worked through her shift, it was different, much more fast paced once the doors were open, it actually provided more of a challenge than she originally imagined, which just made her want to be better. After she was done with her shift, she ate her breakfast quietly in the corner, keeping an eye out for Rapunzel, but she got the impression that Raps wasn't much of a morning person. She did some crowd watching, most of the diners were just a bunch of freshmen gossiping in small groups. She did notice a young woman come in for a mug of tea and a few pieces of toast. She looked older than the others, about her age, with platinum blonde hair, slender yet curvy in all the right places. Oh she blushed brightly and turned to her eggs. By the time she got back to her dorm it was almost 11am. She let herself in and sighed when she saw the mess of blonde hair that was Rapunzel, still fast asleep. She left a croissant she had swiped on the desk for Rapunzel and decided to hit the gym, since it was the weekend and she didn't really have an idea of what she should do to prepare for classes to start the next day.


	2. Chapter 2

Elsa started to prepare for her classes, excited and apprehensive (mostly apprehensive) to begin teaching a class of her own. She was grateful to have an apartment to herself finally. As much as she loved Anna, she needed her space.  She got to class nice and early, taking time to spread out her things on her desk. It still felt so strange to be the one doing the teaching, but she'd have to get over that. She took a deep breath to ground herself and sat down behind the podium to await her students' arrival. She'd worn something simple but neat, all in her signature blues.

After her morning workout, Cassandra made her way to Art History the next morning. It worked out well that she had the class with Rapunzel because she had to practically carry her out of bed. At least they both made it to class on time, with ten minutes to spare. She decided to sit in the front row, for hearing purposes, and distracted herself with her book and notepad. She didn't notice Elsa sitting behind the podium.

Rapunzel yawned and groaned to Cassandra, "Why did I take such an early class..."

"I think you can take it up with the Dean and whoever schedules the classes. This is good in the long run!" Cassandra tried to pep talk her.

Rapunzel got out her notebook, prepared to take notes if she could stay awake. "I should start drinking coffee..."

"You must be solar powered." Cassandra chuckled "Don't worry, if you fall asleep, I'll poke you, I'm sure the teacher won't even notice."

Rapunzel nodded, yawning again. "You're the best..."

As eight o'clock struck, Elsa decided she wasn't going to wait around for stragglers. She stood and smiled politely, "Good morning, and welcome to Art History. I'm Elsa, and I'll be your teacher for this semester. Please mark your attendance on the sheet that will be passed around, and we'll begin." She handed the sign in sheet to a brunette on the front row (she looked quite a bit older than the rest of the class, didn't she?) and Elsa moved back to the podium to begin the slideshow.

Cassandra looked up when she heard someone talking loudly and with authority, it must be the teacher. When she saw who it was her jaw almost dropped  _ Oh, that's inconvenient. _ She took the clipboard without looking away but then realized she was staring a little and snapped back to it, quickly writing her name down and passing it to Rapunzel.  _ Of all the people on campus... _ she groaned internally, or so she thought.

Elsa caught a groan from someone on the front row. "I know this is an early class, but I do expect you to be here on time as often as you can. I know it can be difficult, so if you know you're going to be late, please just do me the courtesy of emailing me to let me know." She wasn't sure if that was what the groan was in reference to, but she was already expecting the worst of an 8 am class, so she figured she might as well cover that. "Now, let's begin with the earliest known examples of human art..."

Cassandra blushed scarlet, realizing she hadn’t been as quiet as she thought. She grabbed her notepad and started scribbling notes. She could do this. She could pay attention. She  _ would _ pay attention... to the way Elsa’s soft blue pencil skirt hugged her curves just so. She didn’t realize she was staring again.

Rapunzel glanced at Cassandra, noting that she was watching the teacher very intently. She scribbled on her notebook and slid it over, "Do you know her?"

Cassandra felt something hit her arm and she looked over, glancing at Rapunzel's note. She just shook her head, but it was enough to snap her out of her daydream and she managed to struggle her way through the rest of class.

At class end, Elsa finally breathed a sigh of relief, "Alright, everyone will have your syllabi available online at the link I sent out this morning. No homework for today. See you Wednesday." She'd made it through the class with only a tiny amount of frost, gratefully hidden behind the desk.

Cassandra shoved her notepad and book into her pack and skeedaddled as quickly as she could from class without coming off as rude, waiting for Rapunzel in the hallway.

Rapunzel hurried out of the class once she saw Cassandra rush off, catching up with her in the hallway, "What was that about?"

“Sorry, I was just getting claustrophobic." Cassandra lied.

"Our room is smaller than that one..." Rapunzel frowned, "Is it crowds?"

"Crowds... yes..." Cassandra just kept going, Rapunzel seemed to accept that answer. She felt a cool breeze and shivered, looking over just in time to see Elsa leaving the class, sweeping away down the hallway.  _ Shit. _

Rapunzel saw Cassandra's gaze turn and she followed it, watching the way her eyes followed Elsa's every move. "Starting to think it's not the crowd..." Rapunzel sing-songed with a smile. "You can't take your eyes off her."

Cassandra rolled her eyes "Yes, I can, exhibit A! Let's go, we can still get breakfast before they switch over to snack menu" she huffed grumpily, not willing to admit that Rapunzel was right.

Rapunzel smirked to herself, "Suuuure. Okay."

Cassandra floated through the rest of her day, hoping and dreading to catch another glimpse of Elsa. She was grateful that Art History was the only class that she had with Rapunzel, she wasn't sure she could bear any more of her probing remarks that she had launched at her over breakfast. She decided she would reward herself with a gym visit that evening.

Rapunzel went on to her next classes, excited to start some actual art classes where she could do actual art instead of study old stuff. It was neat, but she much preferred doing it herself. She plopped down next to a redhead in her sculpture class and smiled, "Hi! I'm Rapunzel."

Anna beamed, finally someone as eager to talk as she was! "Hi, I'm Anna!"

Rapunzel grinned, "Nice to meet you! I'm so excited for this class, can't wait to get my hands dirty, you know?"

"YESSS! Like, you can't learn art from books, you just gotta dive in and do it! Roll up those sleeves and go for it!" Anna bubbled back excitedly

"Yeah!" Rapunzel couldn't contain her excitement, a grin spread across her face. "Oh man, I can't wait. So, do you have a major yet?"

"Ha! I barely decided which college to go to or if I wanted to go to college! But my sister goes here and I'd like to be close, so it ended up being an easy choice. But who cares about tomorrow just yet? We're young enough to take some time, right?"

Rapunzel grinned, "Exactly!! I mean, I know I want to do something art-related, but I've got time to figure that out. Oh, are you going to Rush? I got invited this weekend and I'm so excited, I have no idea what it's gonna be like!"

"You, too?" Anna squealed "Let's go together!"

Rapunzel grinned, "Oh yes! Yes please, it would be so great to know someone there..."

Anna nodded quickly "Yeah, I have no idea what it's like, so I'm glad we can go together." she made to continue talking but the professor called the class to order.

Rapunzel happily sat through class, excited to have a friend. She exchanged numbers with her once class was over, excited to keep in touch.

Anna grinned and hugged goodbye at the end of class, glad that Rapunzel was also a hugger. Elsa was, less touchy feely. She hurried to the cafeteria to meet Elsa for lunch and tell her about her day so far. They had agreed to a lunch date on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, just so they could catch up yet still have their time apart to do what they needed to do.

Cassandra finished off her classes and headed to work for the dinner shift. Tiana kept her busy, this time working in the dish pit. It was far from glamorous but pretty straight forward. She worked at the window, accepting trays and plates, then would send the items down the conveyor belt to the person who sprayed off the food and gunk, then onto the next person who loaded the cleaning racks. It was pretty efficient. She only got backed up one time that night, thrown off her rhythm by a cool pale hand sliding an empty mug through the window. With the flick of a platinum blonde braid it was over, and Cassandra had to rush to catch up and get ahead of the onslaught of trays and plates.

After work she trudged back to her dorm, that had been a lot more work than she had thought it would be, using muscles she didn't normally work. She'd have to fix that. She changed and headed to the gym, grateful it was a 24/7 use at your own risk facility. She worked out hard, trying to clear her mind. She had never really had a crush before, always keeping focused on the task at hand. She would just have to do that again. She could do this. It was near midnight when she left the weight room, noticing a sign she hadn't before. 'Ice Rink.' Curious, she followed the arrow. She had expected it to be empty, but she paused when she saw someone on the ice, then stopped dead when she saw who it was.

Elsa loved the ice rink. It was the one place she didn't have to worry about making the air a little cooler, or leaving too much frost behind. Here, it was indistinguishable unless she created any kind of structure, but when she was dancing on the ice, she felt most like herself. She couldn't really even call it figure skating, she truly just felt like she was dancing. The ice felt more natural under her feet than the ground. She closed her eyes as she spun effortlessly, gliding across the cool surface. She opened her eyes briefly and saw someone watching her, but quickly closed them again and kept dancing. This was the one place she didn't look or feel out of place. No one would know anything.

Cassandra watched Elsa move across the ice, completely enraptured by her beauty and grace. She all but had her nose pressed against the window like a child staring at a Christmas display. Everything about her movement was beautiful, like she was one with the ice. Cassandra could have watched her for hours, but then she realized she was being super creepy and pulled herself away. As she turned her attention from the dancing, she noticed that Elsa was just wearing shoes, not skates. _Well, that's strange_

Elsa continued her dancing until she was out of breath. It was a good kind of tired, the best in fact. She glanced at the window, but no one was there any longer. It wasn't a strange thing for people to watch. After all, how many people even used the ice rink? As far as she knew, they only had it because of the hockey team.

Cassandra made her way back to her dorm and showered quickly before bed, mulling over what she had just seen. How could she move so gracefully without skates? She had seen curling teams on ice, they wore funny boots, so maybe it was just like that? She tried not to think much more on it, willing herself to get some rest that night before work the next morning.


	3. Chapter 3

Rapunzel got into the swing of things rather quickly. Between her class with Anna and one with Cassandra, she had friends already and was quickly making new ones in her other classes as well. Finally, though, it was time for Rush! She put on her favorite purple dress and even added some flowers to her hair for the special event, then went to find Anna in the swarm of young women lining up outside of the sorority hall.

Anna was basking in the excitement around her, keeping her eye out for Rapunzel though. She waved broadly when she saw her through the crowd "Raps! Over here!"

Rapunzel grinned and ran over to her. "Hi! Omigosh, I'm so excited, I don't even know what to do!"

Anna nodded quickly, hugging her quickly "Yeah, yeah! I know, right? There's so many people here!"

Rapunzel hugged her back, beyond grateful to have a friend through this process. "So many! Do I look okay? I feel like everyone's dressed so fancy, but I just tried to wear something that shows my personality, you know?"

"You look wonderful!" Anna beamed, she had opted for a more relaxed look, jeans with a purple and green top, her red hair braided to the side. "Do you know who we need to check in with?"

Rapunzel bit her lip and looked around, "Oh! There's the one that invited me, let's ask her!"

Griselda smiled as she saw the blonde bounding toward her, and with a friend. "Hi there! So glad you could make it! You're just in time, I'll make you a nametag and then we'll get you started cycling through the rooms." She handed them both nametags to fill out.

Anna followed Rapunzel's lead, her eyes wide as she looked around. "So, I wonder what they're going to have us do. Maybe it's dancing? Or games? Singing? Oh I hope there's singing!"

“Me too!" Rapunzel grinned. 

Griselda snickered, "No, no singing. At least not at this stage. You'll go from room to room and the gals from each sorority will get a chance to interview you and learn more about you to see if you're a good fit."

Anna nodded "Yeah, that sounds good! I'm so excited!" Anna finished her name tag and plopped it on her shirt.

Rapunzel put hers on as well, decorated with some vines and flowers in the corners. "Ready!"

Griselda smiled and waved them into the hall, "Alright, let's start you here with this group... Have fun!" 

Rapunzel went with Anna from room to room, talking with the girls one-on-two until they'd made it through every sorority. Rapunzel leaned against Anna, "Wow, that was a lot... But fun!"

Anna nodded, "wow... I didn't realize there were so many sororities here. I can't believe how much talking I just did!"

“I'm surprised we still have voices left!" She chuckled, "I'm pooped... Wanna go get dinner?"

Anna nodded "Oh, yes! That sounds wonderful! I could eat three bowls of cereal!"

"Yessss!" Rapunzel grinned, "Oh, and maybe you can meet my roommate! She works at the cafeteria."

Anna nodded "Oh you have a roommate! My sister and I were going to be roommates, but she got an apartment this year. She's in grad school so I guess it makes sense that she didn't want to be in freshman dorm again..."

Rapunzel nodded, "Yeah... My roommate is a bit older too, she was in the military. She's great, though, I hope you get the chance to say hi!"

Anna took Rapunzel by the hand and swung their hands between them, just excited to have a friend. "Oh look, there's Elsa! Elsa! Over here!" she let go and ran up to her sister, hugging her tightly about the waist "We just did our rush interviews!" she started to chatter excitedly and recounted her time.

Rapunzel grinned, she couldn't believe her luck, "Oh, hi! I'm in your art history class!"

Elsa looked from Anna to Rapunzel, hugging Anna back stiffly, "Oh, um, hello."

Anna nodded "Yeah, she's teaching this year! I'm so proud of her!" she singsonged and swung Elsa around by the waist. "You didn't tell me she was in your class!" 

Elsa huffed "I can't tell you the roster for my classes, Anna, privacy rules. And I have a lot of students to keep track of, no offense."

Rapunzel blushed and shook her head, "It's fine, I'm not offended. We've only had a handful of classes so far and it's a big-ish class... But I really enjoy it!"

Elsa blushed "I'm glad, I can't tell if anyone is even awake. I'm almost certain I heard someone snoring the other day."

Rapunzel blushed brightly. "Totally wasn't me. Nope."

Elsa quirked her eyebrow at her "I'm sure. I was just on my way to get dinner, join me?"

Rapunzel smiled and looked to Anna, "I'd like that, if you both want?"

"Of course, the invitation was to you both." Elsa chuckled, prying Anna off of her.

Rapunzel grinned, secretly planning on trying to learn more about her so that she could tell Cassandra. "Great!"

Cassandra was working on the front line, swapping out pans when she saw Rapunzel "Hi, how did it go? Wish I could have been there, but work, ya know?"

Rapunzel grinned and bounced up to her, "Great! It was a lot, but it was fun! And I brought some friends." She winked and jerked her head back at Anna and Elsa.

Cassandra's eyes widened when she saw Elsa behind her "Oh, look at that, I need to go and be anywhere but here." She took the empty pan and scurried away.

Rapunzel huffed, "Cass!" She rolled her eyes, starting to load up her plate. She'd have to be sure to find out more for her, at the very least.

Cassandra made a point to hide in the back for a while, but she did have a job to do and hiding was not going to get that job done. She emerged after a little while with a cart loaded up with cereal bags, making her way over to the cereal dispensers. She subtly scanned the room for Rapunzel, Anna and Elsa.

Anna bounced over to the cereal dispensers for a second helping of her favorite blend of three different kinds. She saw the brunette stocking the dispensers and grinned, "Oh, are you Cassandra? Raps was telling us all about you! Hi, I'm Anna!"

Cassandra turned around, "Oh, hi... yeah..." she poured the bag into the dispensers "nice to meet you."

“Nice to meet you too!" Anna smiled and started making her concoction of Cap'n Crunch, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and Fruity Pebbles. "It's really cool that you work here, you probably get free food sometimes, huh?"

Cassandra chuckled, Anna reminded her so much of Rapunzel, of course they would be friends. "Yes, it's one of the advantages of working here. You like cereal, huh?"

"Loooove it." She grinned, "It's my favorite! So, you're in Elsa's class too, huh?"

“Oh... yeah...” Cassandra’s face was getting hot,  _ what had Rapunzel said to them? _ “uh, she’s a good teacher...”

"I'm so excited she gets to teach this year, I think it'll be really good. I kinda wish I'd taken her class, but I think I'd just fall asleep. It's early and it's art history. Kind of a no-go for me."

"You and Raps both, I have had to practically carry her to class already, and it's only the first week. So, how do you know Elsa? Are you in another one of her classes?" Cassandra tried to act casual.

"Oh! She's my sister." She grinned, "So I probably shouldn't be in her class anyways, conflict of interest and all that."

Cass gulped  _ sister _ ... “oh, that’s... you’re sisters... um... oh sorry, I see my boss calling to me, I need to go.”

Anna blinked, "Oh, um, okay bye!"

Cassandra hurried off with her cart. She would have to have some words with Rapunzel later.

Anna made her way back to the table, confused. "That was weird..."

Elsa looked up from her salmon and rice “what was?”

Anna shrugged, "I met Raps' roommate over there and she got all weird when I said we were sisters... does she have something against sisters? Or like, an estranged sister that the mere thought of her makes her sad?"

Elsa chuckled and daintily ate her fish "I think you're reading too much into it. She's at work, Anna. She probably had somewhere to be."

Rapunzel chuckled, "Yeah, and I mean, she's new at the job so I'm sure she wants to make a good impression. She's like that sometimes."

Elsa nodded appreciatively "Well, it's good to know some people still have a good work ethic. I can respect that." she looked at Anna with a side-smirk. "I think she's one of the few in class who actually pay attention and aren't asleep."

Anna paused, cereal halfway to her mouth "What!? I can work... if I absolutely have to and there's no way to get out of it..."

Rapunzel giggled, then blushed sheepishly, "I try to stay awake... I really do! I'm thinking of starting up a coffee habit."

“That wasn't directed necessarily at you, dear." Elsa chuckled softly "I can see there's a good handful that don't even try to stay awake."

Rapunzel chuckled, "It is pretty early... but I bet you didn't have much of a choice in what time class starts."

"No, especially for grad students, they give us the worst times that the tenured professors don't want." Elsa sipped her tea.

"That makes sense..." Rapunzel nodded, taking a big bite of pie.

From her vantage point behind the hot bar, Cassandra watched them at the table, laughing and eating. She noticed that Elsa drank a lot of tea, she would have to figure out which kind later.

After a while, Elsa pushed back from the table "Well, this was lovely, but I need to prepare for next week's lessons and get some of my own work done. It was lovely to meet you, Rapunzel. And please say hello to your roommate for me and thank her for being so attentive in my class."

Rapunzel waved, "Oh, yeah! Yes, I will. Thanks!" Once Elsa was gone, Rapunzel turned to Anna, "Omigosh, so I'm pretty much super positive that my roommate has a crush on your sister."

Anna sputtered into her hot chocolate "What?! But she is... and Elsa is... oh... ohhhhhhhhh...."

Rapunzel nodded, "Yeah! That's why she got so weird when you mentioned you two were sisters, and that's why she got so weird and nervous when Elsa showed up..."

Anna nodded slowly "That makes so much more sense than what I thought! I was almost certain it was because she had some long lost, like, adopted sister that she fell out of contact with and just had a thing against sisters!"

Rapunzel giggled, "Yeah, though that's a really good explanation too. Pretty sure she doesn't have any siblings, but I'll ask to make sure..."

Anna nodded, then grinned "We have to set them up! I've never seen Elsa interested in anyone and she's definitely never mentioned it. What does your roommate like doing?"

“Cassandra likes... working out. And cooking, apparently. Um, I don't really know what else. We're still getting to know each other. What does Elsa like?"

Anna sighed "Well, she's pretty private, I'll be honest. She went to a private boarding school and I, like, never got to see her, so I am kind of using this to get to know her better. She likes... ummm... tea?"

"What kind?" Rapunzel asked eagerly.

Anna looked over at Elsa's forgotten mug and pulled out the tea bag "Looks like green tea. How boring! I would have at least hoped for Oolong. Or Darjeeling! That's at least fun to say."

Rapunzel chuckled, "Well, I'll make sure to let that slip to Cassandra. She thinks she's being sneaky about it, but I can tell she's already head over heels."

"Oh,that'ssocute!" Anna was so excited she forgot to make spaces between her words. "Wait... I should figure out if Elsa is um... interested. I'd hate to see Cassandra get her hopes up and then get squashed, yanno?"

"Oooh good idea. Me either. See what you can find out!" Rapunzel nodded.

Anna nodded and fake saluted "Aye, aye!"

"That's not how a salute works..." Cassandra walked up behind them, adjusting the volume of her hearing aid with one hand now that it was quieter, a sanitation bucket and rag in her other hand "So, what are you two up to?"

Rapunzel giggled and blushed, "Oh, just... talking about our art homework, yep!"

"Uh huh..." Cassandra looked between them, not entirely convinced.

Anna held her breath, her cheeks full of air, but nodded vigorously at Rapunzel's response.

Rapunzel gave her a charming smile in hopes of disarming her. "Sooo what time do you get off work tonight?"

Cassandra raised an eyebrow but she really couldn't protest with Rapunzel when she was being adorable "Um... We close at 8:30, then it's probably an hour of clean up and prep for tomorrow... then I was thinking of hitting the gym after. You probably won't see me again tonight."

Rapunzel nodded, "Okay, that's alright. Just curious."

Cassandra turned away, trying to figure out what Rapunzel was up to, but the quicker she got the tables cleaned off, the quicker they could close tonight.

Anna watched her go and finally exhaled "Whew, that was close!"

Rapunzel laughed and nodded, "Yeah... we'll have to be sneaky. But I'm excited!"

Anna nodded and leaned in closer to conspire.

Cassandra watched them from a distance, they were definitely up to something. Just as she had told Rapunzel, as soon as they were done closing up for the night she went over to the gym. She had stored some clothes and gear in a locker there for nights like these. She got ready, leaving her hearing aids in her locker and made her way up to the track, sorely tempted to take a detour to the ice rink, but she willed herself to go for her run. After an hour of running, she made her way to the weight room.

Elsa went for her usual night-time dance on the ice. As she finished up, she decided to take the long way out, as there was a machine at the far end of the gym that had green tea available, and she desperately wanted some. On the way, she saw a familiar haircut in the weight room and paused, looking on as she took on what looked like a huge amount of weight. She stopped, watching Cassandra intently. She was far stronger than Elsa would have guessed, from the few times she'd seen her in class at least. Embarrassed to have gotten distracted, she quickly kept going, reminding herself why she'd even gone this way to begin with.

Cassandra was mid-rep when a familiar flash of blonde hair caught her eye. She looked over, smiling a little when she saw Elsa looking at her by the vending machine.

As she stepped to the vending machine and glanced over her shoulder, Elsa saw the distinct flick of eyes in her direction and she knew she'd been spotted. Elsa blushed and quickly grabbed her bottled tea, feeling the familiar flicker of frost coat the bottle.  _ Damn it! Get it together, Elsa. _ She forced herself to give Cassandra a little wave, so as not to seem rude.

Cassandra’s heart leapt a little when she saw Elsa acknowledge her. She shakily put her weights down as she was already on the brink of dropping them, unsure of if she should go over to her. She looked around awkwardly, unable to muster her courage. Plus she wasn’t exactly in a position where she could have a conversation, she was suddenly cursing her choice to leave her hearing aids in her locker.

Elsa blushed as she saw her put down her weights, she didn't want to just run away now, she couldn't without seeming rude, but the tea in her hand was definitely frozen solid now. She gave a second little wave, "Good to see you." She had to get out of there. She could already feel herself making the room colder. "See you in class." She quickly left the room, heading back to the ice rink. She had to warm up before she went back around people again.

Cassandra watched her intently, trying to discern the words. She just waved back a little, watching her leave, but she definitely noticed the temperature of the weight room starting to get colder.  _ Strange that they have the AC on this time of year _ she thought before picking up her weights again. She managed to finish her workout and showered quickly, practically ran past the hall toward the ice rink. If she slowed down she might not have been able to convince herself not to stop. A, she didn't want to talk with Elsa when she was hot, sweaty and gross. B, she still didn't have her hearing aids in. C, Elsa hadn't come over to talk with her, so maybe she should just let it go and not be creepy.

Elsa took her time dancing, letting out the stress and warming herself back up. She glanced at the windows a few times, wondering if she might see Cassandra, but gratefully, she saw no one. Finally, she felt more in control and she grabbed her things and left.

Cassandra hurried back to her room, feeling rather foolish. She sighed when she saw the light on, Rapunzel was much more of a night owl. She knocked and opened the door "Raps, you in there?"

Rapunzel grinned and looked up, her face smudged with charcoal from the drawing she was working on. "Yep! Have fun lifting heavy stuff?"

Cassandra grinned, "I did... I... uh" she almost mentioned seeing Elsa there but thought differently "I added another set." She chuckled when she saw Rapunzel's face streaked with black "You got a little something on your face..."

Rapunzel blinked, reaching up to wipe it away, but she only managed to smudge more onto her face.

“So, did you have a good time at Rush? I'm sorry I couldn't be there to support you." Cassandra said honestly, plopping down on her bed.

Rapunzel grinned, "It's okay, I think you would've hated being there, but it was a lot of fun! A lot of girls, holy cow a lot of girls... but I got my letter inviting me back for round two!"

"Maybe you're right... because I love crowds so much... not because there were too many girls bit..." ahem she cleared her throat and changed the subject back to Rapunzel "That's fantastic. It's what you want, right?"

Rapunzel smiled, "Yeah! I mean, it's a chance to get to know more people, and I'm always up for new friends."

"You definitely seem more suited for it." Cassandra nodded. "Do you know what is next?"

"A few more rounds of interviews, and then hopefully pledging and initiation!"

Cassandra nodded "That's cool. And is Anna rushing, too?"

"Yeah, oh! I should text her to see if she got her letter!" She quickly picked up her phone to do just that.

"So... you and Anna looked thick as thieves over dinner. What were you talking about?" Cassandra asked as delicately as she could, which was not very subtle.

"Mmm finding out some things about Elsa. Like, she likes green tea..." Rapunzel winked at Cassandra. "Figured you might be interested."

Cassandra hesitated, blushed, and coughed all at once "Why would I care what kind of tea she likes?" she tried to cover.

"You just seemed... curious." Rapunzel went back to drawing, smiling to herself.

Cassandra's blush only broadened, she didn't realize she had been so obvious. "Oh... Uh... what would give you that impression?"

"Let's see... you staring at her every morning we have art history, you suddenly running off every time she's around, or when Anna mentions she's her sister..." Rapunzel chuckled, "I'm your roommate. I notice things."

"Oh..." Cassandra ran her hand through her hair, too distracted by her other dilemma to notice that she had moved her hair out of her face "Uh... it's silly, nothing more."

Rapunzel smiled at her, then noticed her scars. She'd seen hints of them before, but never quite like this. "I'm, um... sorry if this is too personal, but are those from your time in the military?" She pointed to her own face rather than Cassandra's, not wanting to be rude. "If you don't wanna talk about it that's fine, I'll never mention it again. Promise."

Cassandra dropped her hand, closing up quickly. But there was something about Rapunzel that warmed up her outer interior, and she figured the more she pushed her away the harder she would try to climb her walls, so she started talking "Um... yeah. It was in Iraq. We were on a mission to evacuate civilians, then came under fire. There was a grenade. I rushed in to try to save the family, even though I knew it wasn't going to make a difference, I still had to try... and well. I guess I’m lucky this and the hearing is all I ended up with. I woke up in the med bay three weeks later. They thought I was going to be in a coma forever."

Rapunzel frowned, "I'm so glad you made it through. That sounds awful."

Cassandra nodded sadly "I gave them everything... but they didn't want me after my injury. I was honorably discharged with a purple heart."

"But... if you hadn't been let go, we never would have met, so... that's a good thing that's come out of it, right?" She smiled hopefully. "And a purple heart is better than a folded flag."

Cassandra smiled a little "You can bring light to even the darkest situations, sunshine. Thanks."

Rapunzel brightened with a broader smile, "Any time. And thanks for sharing with me."

Cassandra nodded, "Can I hug you? I've never had a friend like you."

Rapunzel squeaked and nodded furiously, scampering over to throw her arms around her in a warm hug.

Cassandra stood up and held her arms open, bracing herself for the giant ball of excitement that was Rapunzel. She picked her up and swung her around as easily as if she were made of feathers, giving her a big squeeze.

Rapunzel hugged her tight, giggling when she swung her around so easily. "Eee!"

"Thanks" Cassandra set her down "I've never really told anyone that story about me... I'd appreciate if it stayed between us, I'm not really sure I'm ready for others to know."

Rapunzel nodded, "Of course. It's not my story to tell." She smiled softly, she understood how awful it was to have everyone know something about you like that without making the choice to tell them.

"So... um... I think I'm going to get some sleep. Thanks for everything, Raps." Cassandra got back into her bed, also grateful that Rapunzel seemed distracted from pressing her about Elsa.

Rapunzel beamed and jumped back into bed, going back to sketching happily. "Any time, Cass. Sleep well!"


	4. Chapter 4

Cassandra made it through the next week with relative ease, finding a rhythm to her days. She started sitting a few rows back in art history, but she couldn't go too far back. She soon felt comfortable in the kitchen, Tiana helped keep her busy, her mind off of a certain blonde grad student. She still worked out each night, even starting to run outside to reduce the temptation to stop by the ice rink. And to her credit, she had managed to avoid swinging by the ice rink a few of the nights. But she had still gone four times, fortunately (or unfortunately?) Elsa was only there one of those times. She even allowed herself to sleep in the next Saturday, rising at 7am instead of 5. She got off work early to meet Rapunzel after her rush interviews in the morning, bringing a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows for her. "So, how'd it go?"

Rapunzel happily accepted the hot chocolate with a grin, "It's going well! Just down to Kappa Iota Sigma and Theta Omicron Pi, I'm not sure which one I want more!"

"Really? You want to be a TOP?" Cassandra chuckled, tapping her cup against Rapunzel's. "What about Anna? Is she going for different houses?"

Rapunzel snorted, "She's in the running for Phi Rho Omega, and I think she's going to get in."

Cassandra nodded "I still don't understand this stuff, but okay."

Rapunzel chuckled, "It's fine. I'm just excited because if we get in, we're supposed to pledge this weekend!"

Cassandra just shook her head, it was probably for the best, she didn't plan on staying in the dorm next semester, even though she did like having Rapunzel around. She had kept her eye out on the newspaper ads for possible living arrangements. It made her feel better to think that Raps would have a place to keep her out of trouble.

  
  


Anna couldn't believe she'd been chosen as a pledge for Phi Rho Omega, she showed up to the house in a white dress, as they'd insisted, and waited with all of the other pledges. In a flash, the sorority sisters began to blindfold the pledges and walk them out into the woods without hardly any explanation other than it was part of their initiation. Anna shivered, but followed along. _What else could she do? She wanted this!_

Cassandra went for her evening run through the woods, something to clear her mind of Elsa.

"There's a special chalice hidden at the bottom of this lake," Ariel smiled, "Whoever can find it will get to skip the rest of the initiation challenges! Ready? Go!"

The sisters pulled the blindfolds off of the pledges and pushed them into the lake.

Cassandra heard a noise, like water splashing loudly and possibly squealing, and turned her run toward the lake. Then she saw something she that made her stop and rub her eyes. A half dozen young women in white dresses, sopping wet, all standing and muttering on the edge of the lake. "What's going on here?" she shouted out "Are you okay?"

Anna trudged out into the water, determined. She heard a voice, but kept going. _She was going to get that chalice!_

Ariel heard the shout and trotted over to Cassandra with a smile, "Don't mind us! It's just initiation, we all went through it."

Anna, meanwhile, kept going deeper and deeper, diving down and resurfacing every few seconds. She shivered and felt her limbs cramping up and realized she couldn't feel the bottom anymore. In fact, she hadn't felt it for a while. "Oh no... But the chalice, I can still-- Ah!" She winced as her leg cramped painfully.

Cassandra looked out across the lake and to the wet girls on the bank "Is that everyone?"

Ariel looked over the girls, counting them silently. She gasped as she saw one deep in the lake, "Oh no, Anna!" She rushed to the water's edge. "We're coming! Someone grab the boat!"

Cassandra looked out, not thinking or hesitating, she just rushed into the water, swimming as hard as she could towards the redhead floundering the center of the lake, while doing her best to keep her ears and head above water. But it was cold, so cold.

Anna shivered so hard that her teeth chattered, it was all she could do to keep her head above water. She felt herself start to sink and whimpered, floundering, "Help..."

Cassandra swam quickly, gasping as she saw Anna start to sink beneath the water. She dove, flailing her arms around, hoping and praying that she would touch Anna, it was too dark to see her.

Anna slipped beneath the water's surface, but she felt a warm touch and instantly tried to cling.

Cassandra grabbed hard to Anna's arm, she could feel that Anna was panicking, so she used her arms to hold Anna still, using her legs to kick them back to the surface. She gasped as she broke the surface, pulling Anna's head above water. "You're okay. I got you."

Anna gasped and coughed for air, clinging to Cassandra as she figured out her surroundings. She recognized Cassandra and felt her heart swell with gratitude, "Th-thank y-y-you..."

"Get on my back" Cassandra tried to maneuver Anna to a better place so she could swim them back to shore. She couldn’t tell if Anna said anything, but she didn’t need her to respond, she just needed her to hold tight.

Anna nodded, shivering, and clung to her back.

Cassandra was grateful that Anna understood what she had said, swimming with full force, grateful to feel solid ground under her feet again. She walked up onto the bank, Anna still clinging to her back.

Anna stayed latched onto Cassandra's back, shivering violently as they reached the shore. "Thank you, th-thank you--"

Cassandra didn't stop, she just grabbed a towel and tossed it back to Anna as a temporary solution. She didn't trust the sorority girls before and she definitely didn’t now. She took off running back to the dorm with Anna, it wasn't far and she had to get them both warm again. "Rapunzel, Rapunzel!"

Ariel tried to rush after them, making sure the rest of the girls were all accounted for. She was too shocked to think that something awful could have happened to Anna, she had to know she was alright.

Rapunzel heard her shouting from the hall and quickly opened the door to their room, "Cassandra? Oh, Anna!" As soon as she saw her, she rushed back in to grab her warmest towel, quickly throwing it around her shoulders. "Anna, are you okay? What happened?"

Cassandra just stripped out of her clothes down to her underwear, pulling on fresh warm sweats. "Her wet clothes. The need them off her" she tugged at Anna's dress "Is this okay?"

Anna nodded, her teeth chattering loudly, "In-Initia-tion, w-we had t-t-to dive in the l-lake..." She explained. 

Ariel spun down the hall, chasing the sounds of Cassandra running. She saw the open door and peeked inside, "Oh thank goodness. I am so sorry, it's not usually this cold this time of year and we didn't expect you to go so deep! What can I do to help?"

Cassandra pulled Anna's dress off, quickly shoving one of her sweatshirts on her, grabbing Rapunzel’s towel to dry her hair once she had Anna in something warmer. Cassandra waved to Rapunzel to deal with Ariel, seeing as her swim must have fried her hearing aids and she couldn't make out a word Ariel was saying.

Rapunzel turned to Ariel, "I think we just need to let Cassandra handle it, she knows what to do. She's military." 

Ariel nodded slowly, "Okay... Okay, well, I'll just... Here’s my number, okay? I just want to make sure she's alright. I need to go take care of the other girls."

Rapunzel nodded and smiled softly, "She'll be okay. We'll keep you updated." She let Ariel step outside and turned back to Cass and Anna, putting a hand on Cass's shoulder to let her know she was there.

Cassandra turned at the hand on her shoulder "Soup?" she said rather loudly, fighting her own needs to get warmer and adrenaline made concentrating on volume control rather low on the priority list "Get Elsa. And blankets"

"Soup? Yeah, I'll get soup! I have some on the mini-fridge I can heat up." Rapunzel quickly got to doing just that, showing her quickly that it was in the microwave, "I'll be right back! With Elsa!" 

Anna shivered still, clutching the sheets to try and eek out as much warmth from them as she could.

Cassandra crawled up onto the bed next to Anna, tucking her into the blankets like a human burrito, pulling her close to use her own body heat. She was too focused on getting Anna warm again to care about her face being exposed. Once she saw that Anna had stopped shivering, she sat and watched over her intently to make sure she didn’t fall asleep, a sure sign that she was slipping further into hypothermic state.

Rapunzel was so grateful Anna had let her know what complex her sister lived in, and even more grateful that it was only a few blocks away. She rushed back with Elsa who hurried to the door, pausing as she saw Anna, pale and weak against Cassandra. She fell to her knees before Anna and Cassandra, "Anna, Anna, are you okay?"

Cassandra had been prepared to see Elsa, but it still made her heart jump when she saw her kneeling before her. "Oh! Sorry." She jumped down to make room for Elsa, hurrying over to hide behind Rapunzel.

Elsa gave Cassandra a grateful smile and turned back to Anna. Anna was her focus right now. "What happened? Rapunzel said something about a lake..."

Anna opened her eyes "Elsa..." she said weakly, holding her hand out for Elsa.

Elsa took her hand, she'd made sure to come gloved. If cold was Anna's problem, she couldn't risk making it worse. "I'm here. How are you feeling?" She had to keep her emotions under control. She had to.

"Better, not shivering at least." Anna smiled at her a little "Cassandra saved me."

Elsa looked over her shoulder at Cassandra, giving her a smile of pure relief. She mouthed, "Thank you." She turned back to Anna, "Thank goodness she was there..."

Cassandra's heart jumped when she saw Elsa look at her, then worried she had missed something "What did she say?" she whispered to Rapunzel

Rapunzel smiled and squeezed Cassandra's arm, "She said 'thank you'." She said slowly, making sure she could read her lips well.

Cassandra smiled and nodded, then pointed to the empty can of soup. "It’s ready" she stepped around Rapunzel and grabbed the bowl from the microwave, taking it over to Anna, gently touching Elsa's shoulder to let her know she was behind her.

Elsa felt Cassandra's touch and suddenly felt a bit of warmth through her. She couldn't explain it, it was pleasant, gentle. Was she really that touch starved? She knew the answer was yes. Still, she backed away to let her give Anna the soup.

Anna took the soup in both hands, grateful for the warmth it provided. "Thank you... Mmm." She sipped it with a happy little shudder of warmth.

Cassandra smiled and stepped away to give the sisters room.

They sat in silence for minutes or hours, time blurred together. Once Anna was able to feel her toes again she launched into telling Elsa what had happened "It was some stupid initiation challenge, get a cup from the bottom of the lake... I mean, what's so special about a cup? And why would they put it in the lake? It was freezing I kind of regret ever rushing and I think I am going to withdraw my application! I don't want to be part of something like that!" she flailed her arms a little. "Even if Ariel feels bad about it, putting someone's life in danger is just stupid!"

Elsa shook her head, "I'm just glad you're alright... Maybe sororities aren't the best idea anyways. And hopefully they learn not to do such dangerous things for initiation. I have a mind to bring that to the Dean's attention..."

Anna nodded "Yeah! Talk about reckless endangerment! Thank God Cassandra was close by! She swam into the water to save me, I just remember starting to go under and she dragged me back, then ran here with me on her back! She's really strong! Did you know how strong she is?!"

“I had an inkling..." She chuckled, blushing. The room turned a few degrees colder and she quickly shut those emotions away. "I'm glad she knew what to do, too."

Cassandra was sitting on Rapunzel's bed next to her, watching and trying to follow what Anna was saying, but mostly it just looked like a lot of hand gestures. Then Anna was pointing at her! She turned red, hoping that whatever it was was good. Subconsciously, she pulled her nervously hair over her scarred side. "Please tell me later what she is saying." she whispered to Rapunzel.

Rapunzel took out her notebook and quickly started writing down the gist of their conversation for Cassandra. She smiled as she wrote down what Anna had said and showed it to her. 

Anna was finally feeling much warmer and bounced off Cassandra's bed and onto Rapunzel's, settling in between them. "Oh, Cassandra, how can I ever thank you enough?!"

Cassandra's eyes widened a little, it was clear that Anna was talking to her but she couldn't hear it. Worse, she didn't have back up a hearing aid, it would have to be ordered and shipped in. She looked over to Rapunzel, a little panicked "Ummm..."

Elsa turned to Cassandra as well and put a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you. I can never repay you for saving my sister."

Cassandra watched as Rapunzel wrote quickly, momentarily forgetting there were two others in the room. She looked up quickly when she felt a hand on her shoulder, not sure of which embarrassed her more, that it was Elsa touching her or that her secret was out. 

Rapunzel again wrote it down for Cassandra, which Elsa noticed. "Wait, are you... Oh, may I, then?" She reached for Rapunzel's book and wrote down, "Thank you so much for saving my sister. I don't think I'll ever be able to properly repay you. ~Elsa" then she handed it to Cassandra with a smile.

Cassandra relaxed, eagerly watching Elsa write her message. "You have nice handwriting." she blurted out, though it wasn't wrong, Elsa did have a nice, elegant script.

Elsa blushed and smiled, signing _Thank you_. She didn't know much sign language, but she knew that one. She picked up the pen again and wrote out her phone number, then "If there's anything I can do, text." She was already planning ways she could help her more in class.

Cassandra watched Elsa write, her eyes widened as she saw the mix of numbers forming a phone number, her cheeks red hot. "Thank you. You don’t need to repay me, it was the right thing, I’m glad she is safe."

Elsa smiled, "Still. I'm grateful." She looked to Anna, "Let's get you home, hmm?"

Anna nodded, then nudged Rapunzel with a wink “but I’m so warm now, can’t we have a sleepover? If that’s alright with Raps and Cass, of course.”

Elsa stammered, "We... We couldn't intrude--"

Rapunzel grinned, "Oh no, please stay! We insist, right Cass?" She quickly wrote down, "Sleepover? All of us?"

Cassandra read the message, she subtly gestured to the four of them and two beds, giving Rapunzel her best ‘what the hell are you thinking?’ look but responded with a “‘Of course. Anna needs to stay as warm as possible.” She got up and hurried down the hall, grabbing cushions off the couch from the community room. She nudged the door open with her foot and plopped the pillows on the ground. “Elsa, take my bed, the floor is fine for me.” She was grateful she had just washed her sheets earlier that day.

Elsa blinked, "Oh, I couldn't possibly..."

"Couldn't possibly say no to such a kind offer?" Anna lifted a brow.

"Anna, wanna snuggle with me? I can keep you warm!" Rapunzel suggested.

Cassandra smiled softly “is that yes?” She waited until she saw Anna and Rapunzel’s heads nod in agreement and nudged the pillows out of the way and grabbed her bathroom bag “I have an extra toothbrush if you want.” She offered Elsa the toothbrush, still in its packaging.

Elsa looked around at all of them. They weren't going to let her say no, were they? Elsa took the toothbrush with a smile of defeat. "Thank you. I'll... I'll be right back." She quickly ducked out to find the bathroom, trying to talk herself out of staying all the way there.

Cassandra followed after Elsa, realizing she hadn’t given her any toothpaste. She entered the bathroom and took a sink a couple over from Elsa, sliding her the tube of Crest, before getting her own ready. She brushed in awkward silence, trying not to look over at her. After brushing her teeth she took out her useless hearing devices and tossed them into the bag, then pulled her hair back to wash her face. At this point she didn’t particularly care if Elsa saw her scars, she already knew her other secret, why not put it all out there at once?

Elsa brushed her teeth quietly, worry building inside her. What if she had a nightmare and covered the room in frost? Alone she could afford the risk, but here... She closed her eyes as she felt the air cool and quickly tried to quell herself. _Not here. Not now._ She took a deep breath after rinsing and glanced at Cassandra, surprised to see her scars. She looked away, not wanting to stare. She'd just stay awake tonight. _That was easy enough, right?_

Rapunzel grinned at Anna as soon as they left the room, "That was genius!"

Anna smirked “it’s been known to happen. You wouldn’t have a spare unused toothbrush, too, by chance?”

Rapunzel grinned, "It just so happens, I do! The multipack was the best deal."

Anna grinned “I’ll get you guys replacements, I promise. This has been one helluva day, but I think it turned out alright in the end, all things considered. They’re so cute and awkward! Did you see how nervous Elsa is around her?”

Rapunzel waved a hand, "Don't worry about the toothbrush, it's totally fine. And omigosh they are so cute! Do you really think she likes Cassandra? It's so hard to read her.."

Anna shrugged “Elsa has always been so private, it’s hard to say. But maybe a few more encounters like these could get the ball rolling. Just, maybe no more near drowning experiences.”

Rapunzel nodded, "Definitely not. You aren't allowed to scare us like that again, promise?"

“I promise!” She gestured over her heart. “C’mon, lets go brush our teeth too.” She jumped off the bed, waiting for Rapunzel.

Rapunzel happily followed, smiling as they passed Cassandra and Elsa in the hall. 

Elsa clasped her hands in front of her as they walked, trying to keep her mind in order, to keep herself calm.

Cassandra walked quietly, conversation would do her no good anyway. She held the door open for Elsa, gesturing to her bed as she arranged the cushions on the floor next to her. She also grabbed a set of sweatpants and sweatshirt and laid them on the bed for Elsa, though she was certain Elsa would be swimming in them.

Elsa looked down at Cassandra, feeling a fondness in her she couldn't express. She carefully took off her boots and sat them neatly on the ground at the foot of the bed and turned back to see the sweats. She smiled and took them, moving into the corner, half hidden by the closet door as she changed into them. She trusted Cassandra not to look.

Cassandra dutifully stared at the wall when she saw Elsa take the offered pajamas, as rigid and on guard as if she were in ranks “just tap my shoulder when you’re done.”

Elsa smiled and did just that, tapping her shoulder once she'd folded her clothes neatly on a chair. She crept into bed and got under the blankets, trying to get comfortable.

Cassandra nodded and laid down on the cushions, it was hardly comfortable. “I’ve never had a sleepover before.” She spoke to the ceiling, unsure if she was talking quietly or loud enough for Elsa to hear, then smacked her face realizing her mistake, rolling up to get her own spare notebook, writing her message again and offering it up to Elsa.

Elsa took the notebook and smiled, writing, "I've never had one before either. It's new." She handed it back to Cassandra.

Anna came giggling back with Rapunzel, frowning a little when she saw Elsa on the bed and Cassandra on the floor “wow, you guys are really bad at the whole sleepover thing, aren’t you?”

Elsa blinked up at Anna, "What do you mean? Should we both be on the floor?"

Anna groaned “I’m just saying that it’s a perfectly good bed, big enough for you both!”

Cassandra blinked and sat up, unsure of what was going on.

Elsa took the notebook and wrote, "She says we should be sharing the bed... Are you comfortable with that?"

“Are you? I’m okay down here if you aren’t.” Cassandra wrote back

Elsa smiled softly and in response, moved closer to the wall and patted the bed beside her. As long as she didn't let herself fall asleep, it would be okay.

Cassandra watched then scribbled back “I’ll be right back.” She got up, grabbing the cushions and taking them back to the common room. Her heart was pounding. _So this is what those two had been plotting._

Elsa shot Anna a look, making sure she knew that this wouldn't be happening again.

Anna feigned an innocent look in response.

Cassandra returned to her room, quietly sitting on the edge of the bed a moment before slowly laying down, almost to the point that it burned her core muscles. She lay there awkwardly, her hands folded across her stomach, ensuring there was at least three inches of space between her and Elsa. She didn't necessarily want there to be but it felt like Elsa was just as awkward and uncomfortable with this as she was and she wanted to be respectful of her space. Though she couldn't control what she did in her sleep. _Oh god, what if I hug her in my sleep!?_ She resolved to stay awake that night.

Anna watched a moment then decided to show them how it was done. She flopped onto the bed and held her arms out wide for Rapunzel "C'mere Raps! I'm gonna snuggle you so much!"

Rapunzel grinned and launched herself into Anna's arms, snuggling her happily with a giggle.

Elsa laid stiff as a board, her arms folded neatly in front of her as she looked up at the ceiling. _This is fine. I just won't sleep._

Cassandra curled her arms across her chest as stiff and unmoving as if she was auditioning for a movie... as a dead person, possibly zombie role. _Don't sleep, don't sleep, don't touch her._ She stared at the ceiling, trying to keep her breath steady, let it betray her excitement and anxiety.


	5. Chapter 5

Soon enough, Elsa heard Anna and Rapunzel snoring softly from across the room. She took to measuring her breathing, trying to keep herself calm and serene. Time passed, and after what must have been a few hours, she realized that Cassandra was still awake next to her. She looked over to confirm her suspicions.

Cassandra felt the bed shift a little and turned her head over toward Elsa, surprised that her gaze was met by a set of piercing, crystal blue eyes. She had never seen her eyes so close before, it almost looked like there were little snowflake patterns. She smiled softly, then grabbed her notepad "Can't sleep either?" she scribbled out

Elsa chuckled softly and shook her head, writing out, "Don't want to wake you up with my nightmares." It was close to the truth, not actually a lie. Just an omission.

Cassandra nodded "I get them, too. C'mon" she scribbled out her response. She rolled out of bed and grabbed two mugs and hot cocoa mix.

Elsa blinked, then carefully sat up and got to her feet to follow. She moved barefoot, staying behind Cassandra but not too close, bringing the notepad with her.

Cassandra went to the common room and flicked on the furthest light, as not to blind them both. She filled the mugs with hot water and made them cocoa, offering a mug to Elsa and taking a seat on the couch "Cocoa makes me feel better. Wanna talk about it?" she wrote out and slid the notepad back to Elsa.

Elsa took the mug gratefully and sat on the couch, smiling as she felt the warmth on her fingers. She took the notepad and thought for a moment, unsure how much she could really share. "About the nightmares?" She asked, sliding the paper back.

Cassandra shrugged "whatever you want. I'm a good listener." she chuckled a little at her joke. "Or we can just enjoy our cocoa."

Elsa smiled, "Cocoa sounds good." she wrote back, smiling at her joke. "Thank you." She sipped politely once she'd set down the notepad, letting out a soft groan at how good it was. She gave Cassandra an awkward thumbs-up with a smile.

Cassandra nodded and sipped her cocoa quietly. "You are a grad student?" she wrote out after a few minutes.

Elsa nodded, carefully writing out, "Architecture. You?"

Cassandra snorted to herself, of course. Elsa was the full package, smart, stunningly beautiful and ambitious. "Wow, that's cool." she shrugged "Unsure." She sipped her cocoa a little before reaching for the pen again "I had planned on being in the army and specializing in something there, was going to choose soon. But life sometimes throws you something you weren't planning." she shrugged again.

Elsa smiled softly, nodding. "Life is funny like that." She wrote back.

Cassandra nodded back, "Glad your sister is okay."

Elsa smiled and wrote, "Thanks to you. Truly, I can't tell you how much it means to me that you were there to save her. I'm in your debt."

Cassandra just shook her head "I'm just glad I was close enough."

“But not everyone would have just jumped in like that... That was no small feat." Elsa insisted.

Cassandra smiled softly, then her heart clenched a little, remembering what her captain had told her when she visited her in the med bay when she had woken up from her coma. She made a funny squeaking noise and set down her mug. "Sorry..." she turned away from Elsa, lest she see her tears.

Elsa frowned softly, leaning in a little. She wanted to reach out and touch her, but she was still too cautious, too worried. She instead took the notepad and wrote, "Want to talk about it?" She handed it to her with a small smile.

Cassandra rubbed her eyes and turned back "Just bad memories. I'll be fine, thanks."

Elsa nodded, sitting straight up once more. She nursed her hot chocolate, thinking to herself. She finally took the notebook back and wrote, "I know a thing or two about bad memories. It's difficult. They never quite go away."

Cassandra looked at her and sighed, one of them had to give and she sensed that they were both very stubborn. She reached for the notepad "I served 2 years in Iraq, so I’ve got a lot of them. Memories and regrets… At the time it all made sense, means to an end, but after the incident, I wonder what it all was for? There are things I will never be able to take back."

Elsa nodded slowly, knowing that she couldn't expect Cassandra to share without giving something in return. She took the pen and paper, hesitating with her pen poised over the surface as she tried to find the words. "I hurt Anna when we were children. It could have killed her, but we were lucky. I'll never forget it, though." She wouldn't put 'accidentally', that felt like a cop-out. She took responsibility for what happened, regardless of the intent.

Cassandra read the note and reached for the pen "We all carry scars, some are just more visible."

Elsa sighed softly, "I'm scared I'll do it again. Sometimes I lose control. I can't afford to do that again."

Cassandra's lips tightened, she knew this feeling. "I get that, I think, in my own way. You’re a good person, Elsa. Don’t doubt yourself.” She sighed, thinking a moment before adding to her message “I'll make you a deal… I’ll help keep you grounded if you do the same for me?"

Elsa smiled softly at Cassandra, and she wrote back. "Thank you. I could use an anchor." She wrote it before she really thought through just how that sounded, but she knew she couldn't take it back. Crossing it out would look bad, and she really could use an anchor. "Don't doubt yourself either. You truly are a good person, Cassandra."

Cassandra smiled a little "I could, too." she sniffled a little at the rest of the message "I've done things, though. Really bad things."

Elsa took the pad again, "What you did doesn't define who you are. It's what you do now that does. And judging from who I see now, I know you're good."

Cassandra nodded with a shy smile "Back at you." She paused, their conversation had been rather heavy and she wanted to lighten things "So, what kind of buildings do you want to design?"

Elsa smiled as she read the question, "A little of everything. I want to make beautiful buildings that are sustainable, environmentally friendly but still works of art in their own right."

Cassandra smiled "I can see that. I know you'll be fantastic." she grinned broader and added "Has Anna asked for a castle? I feel like that's something she'd like."

Elsa chuckled lightly, "She would... I've actually been working on a design I want to gift her whenever she gets married and wants to start a family. She's always talked about wanting that, so... I want to give her her dream house. Cheap to build, but made to last."

Cassandra smiled "That's nice of you. I think I would like a cabin in the woods somewhere. Kind of away from people. What about you?"

Elsa nodded, "Me too. I actually thought about becoming a forest ranger for a while."

“Really?” Cassandra chuckled, that was not what she was expecting.

Elsa laughed, "Yes. I like being outside... Alone."

Cassandra nodded “that’s why I go running outside now before the gym. It’s peaceful.”

Elsa and and nodded, "I skate... I get to be alone and in my own head. It's nice."

Cassandra was glad they were communicating via the notepad otherwise she might have slipped up and said “I know” instead she wrote back “I can’t skate to save my life. Too much finesse. I’m more of a punch, lift, or move. So if you need any grunt work done, I got ya. I started going to rugby, too, occasionally. Rapunzel says I should try to make more friends.”

Elsa chuckled and blushed, deciding against writing out how good she was with weights. "Anna says the same to me. Frequently."

Cassandra grinned and sipped her cocoa, which had gone a little cold "Need a reheat?" she pointed at Elsa's mug

Elsa smiled and nodded, "Thank you."

Cassandra took the mugs over to the microwave and popped them in for a couple minutes, watching the timer intently as not to miss it. Once it hit zero she opened the microwave and reached in to grab the mug, hissing a little at the hot ceramic against her palm. "Shit." she pulled her sleeves over her hands to serve as makeshift pot holders and returned to the table, carefully sliding Elsa's over to her.

Elsa smiled and took her mug, cooling it just a little with her touch until it was just right. When she grabbed it, she made sure to brush her fingers over Cassandra's to cool the mug just enough that she wouldn't burn herself again. "Thank you." She signed, taking a careful sip.

Cassandra was watching Elsa's hands, her fingers were so close she could almost reach out to brush the tips, but she didn't. Instead she held tight to the handle of her own, suddenly aware of a subtle but definite cool chill that she could feel through the fabric of her sweatshirt, coming from the mug handle. She paused but didn't say anything, distracting herself by blowing on the cocoa a little before tentatively taking a sip. The mug definitely felt cooler than it had just moments ago at the microwave, the heat seemed to have dissipated much faster than by any normal means. After a moment she set the mug down and reached for the pad of paper "This probably isn't what you had planned for your Saturday night."

Elsa chuckled as she read it and wrote back, "Not exactly... But this beats grading papers."

"Grad student in a very challenging course and TA, how do you have enough time?" Cassandra grinned, then the reality set in.  _ How was she going to attend classes? How was she going to work? _ It would take several weeks for her to get her replacements in. "Shit." she swore out loud, though she wasn't 100% of the volume or tone. Then she jotted down "Classes" onto the notepad.

Elsa looked at Cassandra, unsure what the curse was for, then the message. She thought back on it and remembered that Cassandra had been responding to her in class a few times, and it looked like she could hear then. But when she'd dived in to save Anna...  _ Oh. _ She must have had some kind of aid. And the water likely killed them. She took the paper and quickly wrote out. "Is there any way I can help with class? We could meet after to fill in any information you miss during the lecture?"

Cassandra raised an eyebrow. As much as she wanted to spend time with Elsa, she took the pen and responded "I couldn't ask that, it will take weeks to get new hearing aids, and you're so busy."

Elsa smiled and shook her head, "Please. It's the least I can do after you saved Anna."

Cassandra sighed and nodded slowly in defeat "I could use a little help" she admitted reluctantly. It probably would have been easier for her to pull her own tooth out. She hated feeling helpless or weak, especially so after the incident. She made a mental note to email her professors the next day and talk to Tiana about what had happened. She had a feeling that this would be a very challenging couple of weeks for her.

"If there's anyone else I can talk to on your behalf, let me know. I know a good deal of the professors here, I'm sure at the very least they could send you their powerpoints." She smiled, passing the notebook.

Cassandra nodded and wrote back "Thank you and that's a good idea. Are you going to talk with someone about what happened? I hate to think someone else might end up hurt in one of those stupid initiation events or whatever."

Elsa nodded, "Oh, I intend to take it straight to the Dean. I can only imagine what other sort of initiations are happening under our noses that puts these freshmen in danger."

Cassandra nodded "Good, and let me know if I can help with any of that, as a witness or something."

Elsa nodded, "I'll let you know. They'll probably want a statement from you at the very least. I can keep you anonymous, though, if you want."

Cassandra nodded, she didn't like the spotlight, she circled "anonymous"

Elsa nodded, she would feel the same way if their places were swapped. "I will."

Cassandra smiled at her "thank you. Feeling tired at all?"

Elsa was, truly, but she couldn't sleep. Couldn't let herself. "A bit, but I'd rather not sleep here. I don't want to wake anyone with my nightmares."

Cassandra nodded "I get it… I still see them. Their faces." she paused, pen hovering over the paper "I haven't said that to anyone before."

Elsa nodded slowly, writing back. "I won't say a word to anyone. I know a thing or two about secrets. Things I haven't even told Anna."

Cassandra didn't respond, staring into her untouched cocoa.

Elsa looked to Cassandra and gently put a hand on her shoulder, saying and writing nothing. She hoped that her touch could convey what words couldn't.

Cassandra looked up at her, her eyes a little damp. She just gazed into Elsa's eyes, as if trying to psychically communicate.

Elsa met her eyes back, holding her gaze firmly. She wanted to show her that she wasn't afraid of her, that she didn't see her regrets when she looked at her. She wanted to show her how  _ she _ saw her.

Cassandra could have sat like that for hours, staring into Elsa's eyes. They were warm, yet guarded. And deep, so deep. She wanted to let Elsa know that she could trust her and that whatever she had done in her past, it didn't scare her, she was there for her whenever she was ready to talk, even if that was never. And that was okay, too. She just wanted Elsa to be comfortable to be herself around her, though she couldn't help but wonder what Elsa was so afraid of. She also wanted desperately to reach out and touch her hand, but she kept both hands firmly on her mug, the cocoa had once again gone cold.

Elsa kept her eyes on Cassandra for long moments, loathe to turn away. Her thoughts caught up with her and she had to remind herself that Cassandra was her  _ student _ . And she couldn't let herself get too close. She'd never forgive herself if she hurt her. She finally looked away and sipped at her cocoa again.

Cassandra finally turned away once the gaze had broken. She tapped her fingertips together a moment before picking up the pen again "Where did you want to be a forest ranger?"

Elsa smiled, writing back. "Anywhere big and open. Yellowstone, maybe. Any other big park, honestly."

"I've never been, but I hear it's beautiful there, but so, so cold."

“I don't mind the cold." She smiled to herself.

"Clearly, you've been sitting here without socks or slippers..." 

Elsa chuckled, "I guess I have." she blushed, she should have thought of that.

"What, you're getting embarrassed about not getting cold? Seems rather useful, especially with winter coming." Cassandra teased

Elsa tucked some hair behind her ear, writing back, "It just freaks some people out, so I try and bundle up anyways."

Cassandra smiled and shrugged "I'm not."

Elsa smiled, a little more relaxed at that. "Thank you."

"I'm not a stranger to having people freak out, by the way. Most people see my face and cringe. I'm deaf, not blind. I can see the look in their eyes. Other than my dad, Rapunzel was the first person who didn't react. You and Anna seem to be a close second and third."

Elsa nodded slowly, looking back into her eyes with a soft smile. "It's not easy being different."

Cassandra shook her head "It's not. And some people have the nerve to try to touch my face, as if that will help. 'Oh, you poor dear.' I don't understand why they think that's even remotely okay."

Elsa frowned, shaking her head as well. "That's awful."

"What can you do? I mean, honestly, I probably would have punched them, but assault is not so good on the record. Not worth it." Cassandra chuckled a little "At least I can say I survived a grenade explosion."

Elsa wrote back, "You're strong, in so many ways."

Cassandra chuckled "Yeah, I could probably bench press you, easily."

Elsa blushed more than she ought to have and felt the room chill as she chuckled away the thought. "It's a bit chilly, want me to get a blanket for you?" She wrote to change the subject.

Cassandra shook her head, "I can get it, you don't need to worry yourself over me."

"I'd like to." She wrote and stood, giving her a smile as she headed back to the room. She had a feeling Cassandra didn't let people do things for her barely ever. She wanted to do this for her.

Cassandra smiled and nodded. She sat back and watched her walk down the hallway a few steps before she tore her eyes away, not wanting to stare. She also didn't want to put Elsa in a bad spot, she was her teacher after all. She grabbed the notebook and read over the page they had just finished, then set it down, not wanting to look like she had been reading, since she wouldn't hear Elsa coming back. She drummed her fingers, then decided to heat up her drink. But that reminded her about the cold feeling earlier.  _ What was that about? _

Elsa came back with a thick blanket and carefully draped it over Cassandra before sitting back down. Hopefully this made it less obvious when Elsa did lose control, at least a little. That seemed to be happening more and more.

"Thank you" Cassandra said, wrapping herself up in the blanket, only one hand visible holding her mug of freshly warmed up cocoa. Elsa's mug had been empty and she wasn't sure if she wanted a refill. She noted that Elsa was looking very tired "You should get some rest. Can I walk you home?"

Elsa smiled softly, grateful that she didn't live too far away. "That sounds very nice, actually. Thank you."

Cassandra nodded and grabbed her mugs, notebook, and the blanket, holding the door open for Elsa. "I just need to change real fast. I can get your clothes, too."

Elsa followed her and nodded, _"Thank you."_ she signed again.

Cassandra raised an eyebrow "I don't really know sign language yet..." she whispered and slipped into her room, grabbing Elsa's boots and pile of clothes for her. Once Elsa was gone, she quickly changed into her jeans and tennis shoes.

Elsa blushed and took her clothes quickly, slipping away to the bathroom to change into them, then gave the sweats back to Cassandra with a grateful smile.

Cassandra wanted to offer Elsa her sweatshirt to keep her warm, then she remembered that Elsa said she didn't get cold. She took her clothes back, noticing that they were almost unnervingly cool, like Elsa had very little body heat. She pointed toward the elevator to convey her thoughts.

Elsa smiled and nodded to her, walking over to the elevator.

Cassandra nodded and pushed the button. She would have to figure out some sort of way to 'hear' Elsa if they didn't have their notebook.

Elsa stepped into the elevator with her and smiled. She was already thinking of ways that she could make class easier on Cassandra, maybe a more detailed outline that she could give her ahead of time?

Cassandra stood there quietly, then had an idea. She grabbed her phone and handed it to Elsa "I didn't have time to put your number in. Can you?"

Elsa smiled and nodded, putting her number into Cassandra's phone and adding her name. She handed it back with a smile.

Cassandra smiled and quickly sent her a text "Why didn't we think of this before? I haven't written that much in one sitting since high school. I have a hand cramp!"

Elsa laughed and texted back, "It was a bit old school, but I enjoyed it. This is nice though."

Cassandra nodded "We can just blame being tired."

Elsa nodded with a yawn at the thought, blushing a bit. "Good call."

Cassandra leaned her head back against the wall, watching the lights flash between floors "Anna and Raps are going to kill us. You know that right?"

Cassandra smiled when the doors opened, she out her hand against the sensor so Elsa could exit without the door closing on them. "That's true." She pushed the door open into the brisk fall air, breathing deeply. She looked up, the sky was alight with stars, due to the city having a light-minimization ordinance. "Wowwww" she whistled low.

Elsa smiled, looking up at the sky. She could get lost in it. She slowed her pace, looking up at the stars in wonder.

Cassandra stopped and looked back when she didn't see movement, marveling at the way Elsa looked in the moonlight. She stared a little, okay, a lot. It took a lot of effort to pull her gaze away, but she eventually succeeded, laying down on the ground right in the middle of the quad, arms folded under her head, staring up at the sky. She hoped that maybe Elsa would do the same. She didn't want this night to end.

Elsa beamed as she looked up at the moon and the stars. She heard rustling and looked over to see Cassandra stretched out on the ground. She smiled and knelt down to lay down beside her, looking up at the stars with her.

Cassandra could have floated away with happiness and nervousness. "Comfortable?" she spoke softly

Elsa smiled over at her and nodded, "Very."

Cassandra turned and looked at her, her cheek resting on her bicep, which she subtly flexed, even though she was wearing a sweatshirt. "Good"

Elsa blushed and nodded against her. She knew she shouldn't let herself get this comfortable, but she'd blame it on the lack of sleep. Speaking of which, her eyes were growing quickly heavy.

Cassandra noticed that Elsa's eyelids were starting to droop "I could carry you if you're too tired" she chuckled as she sent the message

Elsa looked up at her phone and smiled softly, texting back. "I appreciate it, but I'm alright to walk. We should probably get going or else I very well may fall asleep out here."

Cassandra nodded and hopped to her feet. "Then let's get you home." She was torn for approximately .25 seconds to offer her hand, quickly offering it. It was something friends did, right?

Elsa looked up and blushed, taking her hand as she got to her feet. "Thank you."

Cassandra beamed when Elsa accepted her help, trying not to pull her up so fast that it dislocated a shoulder. She instead stood still, letting Elsa pull against her. She did promise to be her anchor after all.

Elsa let her hand linger longer than she should have as she got to her feet. She reluctantly pulled it away and smoothed out her shirt, starting towards her place. She smiled at Cassandra and pointed in the direction of her apartment.

Cassandra coughed a little and pulled her hand away when Elsa did, otherwise she would have been more than happy to keep that brief touch. Even through the glove, she could tell that Elsa's skin was so, so soft. She shoved her hands in her sweatshirt front pocket and walked next to Elsa.

Elsa walked beside her, leading her to her apartment. Once she arrived at her door, she turned to Cassandra and smiled, texting her. "Thank you for walking me home."

Cassandra checked her phone with a smile "Any time. See you Monday, good night." she dutifully turned and started her walk back to her dorm. She sighed and collapsed onto her bed, grabbing the sweatshirt that Elsa had worn and curled around it, pretending it was her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little slower but still meaningful.  
> Did I mention slow burn?


	6. Chapter 6

Cassandra slept more soundly than she had in months, stirring when a bright beam of sunlight shone across her face. She turned over to see Rapunzel holding the blinds open, Anna sitting expectantly next to her on the bed. 

"So... what happened to sleepover?" Anna pressed her immediately.

Rapunzel gave Cassandra an expectant look, letting Anna have the notebook. She could get everything she needed to across in a look.

Cassandra rolled her eyes at Rapunzel, waiting for the message from Anna. "She was tired, I walked her home." she wrote back

Rapunzel peeked over at her response and huffed, telling Anna something. Anna nodded and wrote, "The point of a sleepover is to sleep in the same place!"

"Sorry to foul up your plans." Cassandra snorted as she shot back her response

Anna huffed and wrote, "But" and stopped, crossing her arms. She shook her head and wrote again, "But you two should be friends!"

"We can't be friends. She's my teacher. She could get in a lot of trouble. Please excuse me, bathroom." Cassandra responded, gently picking Anna up and setting her aside so she could get out of bed, going for her bathroom kit. She looked at the toothbrushes, taking the one Elsa had used over to her desk and writing E on it in Sharpie before putting it back.  _ Just in case. _

Rapunzel groaned as Cassandra left, "Well, at least her walking her home is a good sign?"

Anna nodded “but I guess I can see where they’re both coming from. Maybe we were a little too strong. I think they can do it on their own... just a little bit of prompting perhaps. You’re a good snuggle buddy by the way! I can feel all toes and fingers!”

Rapunzel grinned, "You were a really good snuggle buddy too! We should have all the sleepovers!"

Anna nodded “that’s what I was thinking!! So... I was thinking... well, I’m not going to do the sorority thing after all... and I get the feeling like Cassandra is gonna want to move out at semester... what if I took her spot here? I mean, assuming you don’t choose a sorority either I guess.”

Rapunzel shook her head, "After what they did to you I don't want anything to do with them. But omigosh yes you should move in here!"

Anna grinned “so... roomies?”

"Roomies!!" Rapunzel squealed happily.

“Eeee!!!” Anna leapt onto Rapunzel with a big squeeze.

Rapunzel grinned and squeezed her, kicking her legs up into the air. "You can stay over any time you want though until then, okay?"

Anna nodded “I will! I like you so much more than my roommate! Oh, I am so excited!!”

"Me too!!" She grinned and snuggled with her all over again.

Cassandra stopped by the cafeteria after her morning routine so she could get something to eat and explain her situation to Tiana, who was gratefully very understanding and accommodating. She still wanted to work, but her inability to hear definitely made things harder. She agreed to work dish out window, which was pretty much a solo job anyway, Tiana gave her the quieter shifts and a hall pass if she needed to call out. After that she sent emails to all her professors, including Elsa, just for the paper trail. Satisfied with her productivity she allowed herself to hit the gym, no running, double time with the weights. She always kept her eyes on the vending machine, hoping Elsa might magically appear there.

Elsa was glad to see the email from Cassandra, assuming it meant that she'd likely sent similar emails to her other professors. To keep the email trail going, she replied offering to meet after class to fill in any information she might miss during lecture. After a nap, she made her way to the gym, tempted to stop by the weight room for a tea... Maybe later. She headed to the rink to dance.

Cassandra finished her weight training, a little disappointed to not see Elsa come by. She decided to stop by the ice rink on her way out. She looked in the window and saw a familiar figure dancing on the ice. She took a breath and pushed the door open.

Elsa spun and glided and suddenly saw Cassandra standing at the edge of the rink. She quickly twisted her wrist and added blades to the bottom of her shoes and made her way to the edge. "Hi."

Cassandra waved back and grabbed her phone “sorry, I know you said this was your ‘me time’ so I’ll be fast. I just wanted to make sure you were okay”

Elsa pulled her phone out of her pocket, answering back with a smile. "I'm doing well, thank you. How are you?"

“Little tired but okay.” Cassandra smiled back “well, I’ll leave you to your skating.” She looked away awkwardly, the skates on the bottom of Elsa’s shoes caught her eye, that was definitely different from the other times she had seen Elsa on the ice.

Elsa smiled and texted back, "See you in class." As much as she ached to invite her out on the ice with her, she had to keep this professional.

Cassandra nodded and turned away with a wave.

Cassandra was grateful her other professors were understanding of her predicament and had offered a variety of aid ranging from sending PowerPoints to recording lectures (no doubt to be transcribed by their grad students needing a little credit). It helped being able to check a lot of boxes on the protected classes list. She worked the snack shift after class but before dinner rush. After work she checked her phone, hoping and dreading to see a message from Elsa.

Elsa thought of typing out a text many times, to check on her, to see how she was doing, but Cassandra was independent. Would she be offended? She didn't want her to think Elsa thought she needed help.

Cassandra was a little surprised by the pang of disappointment when she saw no message from Elsa. So she decisively wrote a quick and strictly professional text... mostly professional “hi, I’m done with work. Would you be available to go over today’s lecture matter? Library?” She had wanted to suggest coffee or tea off campus, that felt too casual though. Too friendly.

Elsa felt her phone buzz and quickly picked it up to answer. "Yes, of course. I'll meet you there."

Cassandra grabbed her pack and made her way to the library. She hadn’t actually gone in before so she stood awkwardly in the entry foyer looking around at the architecture, staring up at the dome. The building was actually beautifully designed. She wondered if Elsa would make something like this.

Elsa arrived at the library and smiled when she saw Cassandra admiring the dome. She put a hand on her shoulder to get her attention.

Cassandra turned around quickly, pulled out of her daydreams about Elsa designing some cool flat for them by the cool touch. “Hi”

Elsa waved with a smile, then gestured over to the coffee shop, giving her a questioning glance.

Cassandra nodded and started walking with her. She wasn’t entirely sure of how this was going to go. Honestly, if Elsa wanted to go over what she had said in class, there were easier ways, especially if she was going to have to type it out anyway. But she wasn’t going to question or argue, she was just glad to spend time with her. She pulled a $5 out of her wallet and handed it to Elsa, pointing at hot chocolate on the menu. ”Could you order for me, please?”

Elsa nodded and ordered her hot chocolate and a hot cider for herself. She smiled and led Cassandra to a booth tucked away while they waited for their drinks.

Cassandra sat quietly as she waited for Elsa, then decided to try to prepare, getting out her notebook, book, and laptop. She wasn’t sure what to expect so she wanted to be ready for anything. She didn’t want to waste Elsa’s time.

Elsa got out her laptop as well, sending her the file of her notes. She texted her, "This is the outline, are there any parts you would like more context on?"

Cassandra read over the outline and texted back “can you please explain the difference between the styles? What differentiates this as prehistoric Northern European?” She pointed to the markings engraved on the tusk handled axe on the PowerPoint

Elsa smiled and nodded, texting her back a few messages worth of information about the different styles.

Cassandra nodded and studied the images a few more times, cross referencing her text. She leaned back to read a moment, stretching her legs out under the table. She felt her foot hit something soft and she quickly sat up. “Sorry!” She whispered? She looked around to see if anyone heard her, gratefully no one looked or care to look.

Elsa chuckled and waved a hand as if to say "It's fine. I'm alright."

Cassandra ducked her head forward whispering “am I loud? I can’t tell. Just... give me a hand signal if I need to be quieter.”

Elsa smiled and nodded, gesturing "A little" with her fingers. "It's okay." She perked up as she heard their order and held up a finger, leaving and returning with their drinks.

Cassandra blushed a little "Better?" she tried quieter. She watched as Elsa got up, unable to keep her eyes off her as she walked away.  _ Get it together! _

Elsa focused on trying to keep the drinks hot in her hands. She sat back down with a smile, handing Cassandra her cup of hot chocolate.

Cassandra smiled and reached up for the cup, accidentally grabbing Elsa's gloved hand instead "Sorry... ahem," she cleared her throat and grabbed the top and bottom of the cup like a sandwich, with Elsa's hand in the middle. "Thanks."

Elsa quickly pulled her hand back, blushing and hoping she hadn't accidentally cooled her drink. Maybe if she had, it was just enough? She clutched her own cup in both hands and quickly took a sip, but it was already cool from her own touch.

Cassandra buried her face in her hot cocoa and smiled "It's good. What did you get?"

"Cider." She texted, adding, "It's delicious. Perfect this time of year."

Cassandra nodded, tucking that tidbit of information away for later, just in case. "Okay... so..." she tried to maximize her time with Elsa, she did not want their session to go more than an hour, it was already above and beyond any expectation for Elsa to give her a one-on-one meeting. At the end of the hour she started to pack up "Thank you for this, I think I've got the gist of it." she paused and grabbed her phone for the next bit "You know... you don't have to meet with me like this, I know you're busy, so just emailing notes would be okay. Wouldn't want you getting in trouble or anything." she instantly regretted it once she pressed send, quickly blurting out "I mean, I don't mind if you prefer in person... I just..." she shrugged to shut herself up.

Elsa looked at Cassandra, trying to decipher if she really did prefer meeting in person or not. Selfishly, she liked the company, but surely Cassandra had a lot on her plate... She texted back, "I'm happy to. It helps me get out of the office, I tend to hole myself up. I'm happy to as long as you have the time."

Cassandra nodded quickly with a goofy grin as she texted back "I was worried the same for you! I mean, I don't have that much going on. I just go to class, work, and live in the gym... I'm not exactly social."

Elsa smiled back, relaxed at her response. "I know what you mean..."

Cassandra nodded and stood up with her bag "So, thanks again, I think I should go to the gym before doing homework. I'll see you Wednesday."

Elsa gave her a wave, texting back, "See you Wednesday." She'd go to the gym as well, but she did need to stop by her office to change first.

Cassandra was torn between going or inviting Elsa, but she didn't want to push her luck. She hurried to the gym and changed into her workout outfit that she had stashed in her locker. Working out helped settle her mind and she was determined to push the thoughts she was having of Elsa out by pushing herself in this workout, adding weight to her lifts.

Elsa got herself changed and made her way to the gym, trying not to necessarily hurry. Yes, she enjoyed Cassandra's company, but there was a line. She headed for the ice rink and made sure to actually use 'skates' this time. She needed to be more careful.

Cassandra finished working her upper body and took a quick break before she went to do her legs and core. She was curious to see if Elsa was there but she didn't want to be creepy. She had already got to see her an hour, that was enough, right?

Elsa skated, but found herself distracted. She just knew Cassandra was here, probably in the weight room, but she had to keep herself in check.  _ Why was this so difficult? _ She channeled her confusion into her skating, going faster and leaping higher, making it truly a workout.

By some miracle of willpower, Cassandra walked passed the hallway to the ice rink when she had finished, her muscles burning. She actually felt tired by the time she got back to her dorm, tossing her bag down with a sigh, flopping onto her bed. She didn't even notice Rapunzel in the corner working on some portrait or something.

Rapunzel looked up from her painting and smiled at Cassandra. She realized she hadn't seen her so she texted her instead, "Soooo where've you been?"

Cassandra felt her phone buzz and checked it "Oh, sorry, didn't see you. Work, studying, gym."

Rapunzel nodded, "Studying alone?" She prompted.

Cassandra rolled her eyes "Elsa helped me through today's lecture. I can't count on you staying awake" she inserted a wink face emoji to convey her joke.

Rapunzel giggled, texting back a shrug emoji, "I try... it's just so early!"

Cassandra nodded "I'm tired, I think I'm going to bed." she laid back down, but felt like she hadn't been as roommie-like, especially with how much Rapunzel had been helping her. She pulled her phone back out "Hey, so I reduced my work shifts until I get my replacement hearing aids in, so I have extra time. Can I make you dinner this weekend as thanks for helping me through this?"

Rapunzel looked at the text, then looked up at her with a smile, "How about we make it together?"

Cassandra nodded with a smile to her before answering her "And... you can invite Anna if you want, I know you two are friends. Or it can just be us."

Rapunzel grinned, but thought for a moment. "We haven't done much just the two of us, let's do this together. Just us."

Cassandra nodded "I'd like that. What do you want to eat? I'm a pretty good cook. What's your favorite?"

Rapunzel grinned, "Oh, everything!" She texted back, "Anything warm and yummy. Pie?"

"You have to eat something other than pie for dinner." Cassandra snorted.

"Meat pie!" She insisted. "Or stroganoff, I like stroganoff."

"Stroganoff sounds good. Beef and mushrooms are okay?"

Rapunzel nodded and gave her two thumbs up. 


	7. Chapter 7

It took almost five weeks to get her new hearing aids. Cassandra looked at the box, it was bittersweet. This meant her study sessions with Elsa were over, but she could hear her voice again. She sat in her room after her final midterm, she hadn't planned on any travel during fall break. At least her cafeteria was going to stay open for the students who stayed on campus during break. She looked up when she heard giggling in the hallway, Rapunzel and Anna were back. Anna had pretty much moved in, which was fine, she was glad to see how happy Rapunzel was. She wondered if perhaps there was something forming there beyond friendship, but she wasn't one to pry. Unlike them, who had attempted several other plans to get her and Elsa together. It wasn't that she wanted to stay away from Elsa, she just had to maintain that boundary. Couldn't let her guard down. Couldn't fall for the teacher. _Whoops, too late._ Plan B... don't let her or anyone know true feelings. She turned and smiled at the girls when they came bursting through the door. "Hey there, you two, how was your sculpture midterm?"

Anna grinned, "Great! We made such cool stuff and oh-! Did you get your hearing aids in? Rapunzel said they'd be in soon!"

Cassandra grinned and tapped the side of her head "Yep, good as new."

Rapunzel squealed and threw her arms around Cassandra, "Yay! Congrats, roomie!"

Cassandra easily lifted Rapunzel up and spun her around. Then to show off a little she lifted her up a few more times as she might do overhead arm presses.

Rapunzel laughed and giggled as she finally let her down. "You're so strong."

"Have you done that to Elsa yet? She'd positively melt, I bet!" Anna added with a giggle.

Cassandra blushed "Uh, yeah no. Not exactly something I would do to Rapunzel in class... wait, what?" she paused when she registered what Anna had said.

Anna laughed and winked, "Nothing~"

"So, what are you doing for break? Staying on campus or traveling?" Cassandra asked them both.

Rapunzel stretched out on her bed, "I'm going home to spend some time with my family."

Anna sat beside her, "I'll be staying here, I think I'll try and get a head start on some of my other art projects."

Cassandra nodded "I had thought about going home, but they needed help at work and so I figured I'd just stay. Would probably be sitting around if I went home anyway" she shrugged. "Maybe I can test out some recipes on you, Anna?"

Anna nodded with a smile, "Definitely."

Cassandra grinned "What kind of food do you like? I can maybe pair some new with favorite classics."

Anna smiled, "Mmm chocolate. And soup!" Also those happened to be things Elsa liked...

"Chocolate and soup... what kind of soup? And any particular proteins? Beef, chicken, fish?"

"Mmm chicken!"

"Okay... chicken it is." Cassandra chuckled, starting to put a menu together in her mind. "I'd say when do you want to come over, except you pretty much live here, so when would you like to do this?"

Anna grinned, "Mmm how about Thursday? I'll bring Elsa."

Cassandra coughed, _how did she not see that coming?_ She couldn't say no, that would be rude. But... oh the pressure was on. "Thursday" she choked, trying to maintain her composure "and yes, of course, please bring her. I still need to thank her properly for all that extra help she gave me these past few weeks."

Anna grinned, "She'll love it!" She nodded and quickly texted Elsa, inviting her without saying who was cooking.

Cassandra nodded and then hurried to excuse herself to go to the gym. It was her safe place.

Rapunzel gave Anna a thumbs up after Cassandra left, winking.

Thursday was five full days away and Cassandra spent all five planning out the menu. She was cooking. For Elsa. Anna would be there, too, but for Elsa! She eventually narrowed it down to two menus, but was indecisive on which, so when she went to the store on Tuesday she bought stuff for both menus. Wednesday was preparing everything and washing all the pans and dishes (she didn't trust freshmen do properly clean the community dishes), and Thursday she spent all day in the kitchen putting the meal together. At a quarter to 6 she set the table, wringing her hands nervously. She looked at the spread of food on the table, maybe she had gone too far. There was a chicken, wild rice and mushroom soup to pair with grilled chicken with lemon-risotto. There was also her first attempt at chicken mole to pair with a chicken tortilla soup. Chocolate indulgence cake was the one dessert for both. She poured glasses of water and mulled cider was warming on the stove. She stood awkwardly, waiting.

Anna practically tried to drag Elsa to the door, but Elsa insisted she was coming and squeezed her hand to assure her, then let go. "I'm right behind you." She insisted with a little chuckle. Anna had said that they were going to Rapunzel's for dinner, but she hadn't said anything about Cassandra. Honestly, she hoped Cassandra would be there, but she wouldn't admit to it. Finally, they made it to the common room and Elsa smelled something _delicious._ "I didn't realize Rapunzel was such a great cook... Oh." She blinked as she saw Cassandra... and no Rapunzel.

Cassandra looked up when she heard voices in the hallway, Anna's unmistakable singsonging and Elsa's more reserved tone. She hopped up "Hi! You made it! I hope you're hungry." she started talking rapidly in her nervousness.

Elsa blushed and smiled, "Very much so... it all smells amazing. Wow!" She looked at the different offerings, "You really went all out."

"Anna said chicken, chocolate and soup, not necessarily in that order. I wasn't sure what from there, so I... uh... tried to cover all my bases" Cassandra blushed, tempted to pull a chair out for Elsa but decided against it so she busied herself with describing the dishes to her guests. 

Anna thought about excusing herself, but she reallllllly did want to try all of the delicious things... She sat down with Elsa and looked over all of the food. "This is amazing!!"

Cassandra smiled and pulled the mulled cider off the stove top, pouring some for Elsa first, then Anna, then herself. "Well, please tuck in."

Elsa pulled the cup into both of her hands, drinking in the smell of it before sipping it. "Oh, that's good."

Cassandra grinned, intently watching Elsa's reactions. She was actually feeling rather proud of her menu "Tiana has really helped my cooking, she pretty much gives me free reins in the kitchen. She takes point, of course, but it's nice to have some freedom to try new things. So if you ever are hungry, I'm happy to cook for you, uh, both. Again... I mean, any time. I’m happy to cook any time.”

Elsa smiled and sampled each of the dishes, giving an expression of pure joy. "These are amazing!"

Cassandra ate her food to make herself stop talking. Her heart soared and she smiled proudly at Elsa’s assessment “I’m glad you like it.” She had to agree, she had really done well.

Anna watched them, looking back and forth between them. “Well, I don’t know about Elsa, but I’ll definitely take you up on that offer. She’d be stupid not to.” She winked subtly at Elsa.

Elsa shot Anna a look, but still smiled as she continued to eat. "Is that chocolate I smell?"

Cassandra smiled “you have a keen nose. That’s dessert...”

Elsa smiled warmly, "You really outdid yourself... Thank you."

Cassandra blushed "Well, I was just trying out some new recipes... for work of course..." she tried to cover, getting the impression that she had done too much or made it awkward somehow. She started to doubt herself.

Elsa smiled and chuckled, "It's a great hobby to have. I just skate. It's not really a shareable hobby... This is much better."

Anna rolled her eyes "People go skating together _all the time_! It's a very nice thing to do, when you have friends or, ya know, someone you may care about!"

Elsa gave Anna another look, "Perhaps... But not everyone likes skating." She looked down at her feet.

Cassandra chuckled, stepping in for Elsa's defense "Yeah, I mean, I tried skating once, I just ended up pretty much just mopping the ice with my butt. It's not for everyone. Sometimes it's better to leave it to the pros."

Elsa smiled at Cassandra, grateful for the save. "And I probably shouldn't try cooking.. I just don't see that going very well."

Cassandra smiled "deal. I avoid skating and you avoid the kitchen..." she held out her hand.

Elsa hesitated, then reached out to take her hand, grateful she still had on her gloves. "Deal."

Cassandra gripped her hand softly. They had only touched a few times but she could still feel her softness through the gloves. She wondered why she always wore gloves, especially when she said she didn't get cold. Perhaps she was afraid of germs. _Oh!_ she quickly let go, as not to make Elsa more uncomfortable. It all made sense, why she seemed to keep people at a distance. It was because she didn't like touching people because of their germs! It actually didn't really make sense but Cassandra was running out of ideas.

Elsa smiled and pulled back her hand, going back to her meal. She finished what she could and sat back, "That was incredible. Thank you so much for sharing."

Cassandra helped herself to thirds, but there was still quite a bit of food left. When she was finished she got up and pulled out some Tupperware containers she picked up. "Well, I know I eat a lot, but since I also get fed at work, it would be a shame to have this food go to waste. Would you like to take it home?"

Elsa opened her mouth but Anna quickly spoke up instead, "She's going to say no to be polite, but we definitely want leftovers. Yep.”

Cassandra smiled, clearing the table as she dished the food into separate containers. "I hope you saved room for dessert. I'm really excited for this one. It's like a chocolate lava cake... but so much better"

Elsa smiled and nodded, "Can I help? I feel silly just sitting here while you do all the work..."

Cassandra warmed but also remembered that Elsa said she avoided kitchens "Umm, yeah, that would be nice. We kind of already used all the plates I cleaned earlier. Maybe, could you clean a couple?" She grabbed pot holders and pulled a pan out of the oven, full of delicious chocolatey decadence.

Elsa nodded and happily set herself to cleaning dishes. She removed her gloves and set them aside, taking a deep breath. As long as she kept her focus on the dishes, she'd be fine.

Cassandra grinned over at Elsa, coming over to grab the plates, nudging her gently with her shoulder "Can I grab those?"

Elsa jumped and suddenly the entire sink full of dishes froze solid. Elsa tried to block her sight of it, but her hands were still stuck in the middle of it all. She started to panic, looking to Cassandra, then over towards Anna and back to Cassandra.

Cassandra gasped quietly, her eyes wide as she took in the sight in front of her. But then she saw the way Elsa was looking over to Anna, _oh shit, her sister doesn't know either._ Fortunately, Anna was not paying attention and looked like she was on the brink of slipping into a food coma at the table. "It's okay, just, be calm." She grabbed a towel and threw it over Elsa's hands and the sink and whispered to her "Can you, um, work on unfreezing it? I'll distract her." She grabbed a knife and cut the cake in a large chunk "Hey, Anna, here you go. Elsa said she was full and was going to work it off... to make room, yanno?" She winked.

Elsa blinked at Cassandra, shocked. _How was she not freaking out? How was she not even fazed by it?_ She looked down at her hands, _What do I do?_

Anna looked at Cassandra, then gasped as she put two and two together. "Ooooh. I see." She winked back, "I'll just take some of that cake to go... I'll get out of your hair."

Cassandra nodded "You're the best, thanks!" all but shoving her out of the room. She waited until she saw Anna go down the elevator before returning to Elsa "Any progress?" she whispered.

Elsa looked over her shoulder, having heard her and Anna. At least she'd gotten Anna out of here, she could already feel the air getting colder. "No, I'm... I'm so sorry, I've ruined all of this..."

"You haven't ruined anything." Cassandra shook her head. She stood there a moment puzzling, when an idea popped into her mind. If Elsa's anxiety made it cold, what would the opposite feeling have? "Can I try something? Do you trust me?"

Elsa looked at Cassandra, "I... I do." She took a deep breath, trying to relax herself. "Yes."

Cassandra nodded slowly, still debating if this was a good idea or not. She reached up and cupped Elsa's chin, leaning in and kissing her softly, but very chaste. She felt her own core start to warm, she hoped the Elsa felt the same. Otherwise this would be very awkward. She opened her eyes after a moment and looked at the sink "Did it work?"

Elsa stilled under her touch, shocked by the kiss. The frost beneath her hands spread across the counter, but then she felt Cassandra's lips, soft and warm against hers, for a moment her fear and doubt started to melt away. She pulled away and realized the ice was soft enough to pull her hands free. "It.. did." She admitted with a surprised laugh. "I... Um... Thank you."

Cassandra chuckled and blushed "Sorry... I know it doesn't mean anything. And I hope you know that none of this was my intent... I hope this doesn't make it weird for us... oh God, I'm sorry if it made things weird. I just wanted to help." she shuffled awkwardly. She reached over and grabbed the cake tin and Tupperware "Here, for you and your sister." she shoved the items into Elsa's hands

Elsa blushed and wiped her hands on her leggings, "No, it's..." She bit her lip and took the Tupperware, "Thank you. I... I should go, I guess."

Cassandra nodded "Yeah... uh... let's just... um, never speak of that kiss again. Oh god. Anna must never know! Or Rapunzel."

Elsa nodded, but in truth, she was so grateful to have _someone_ know. Still, this was all too new to her, too much. "Thank you... For your discretion."

Cassandra nodded "And don't worry, I'll keep your secret." she reached over and grabbed Elsa's gloves, handing them to her. "Don't forget these." 

Elsa took her gloves and quickly put them on, taking the leftovers and going home before she could mess things up even more. 

Cassandra watched, torn, as Elsa slipped out and down the hall. She sat down at the table and held her face in her hands. Everything had gone wrong.

Anna had texted Rapunzel the dinner play by play, gushing about the cake and the food and the fact that it was very heavily implied that if she did not leave on her own accord Cassandra might have yeeted her from the room so they could have some _alone time_ . their plans were _finally_ paying off and there was some movement between the two icebergs!

Rapunzel squealed through the updates, ecstatic. "FINALLY!!!" She texted back at the end of the saga.

Anna shot back a series of cute emojis "And I think Elsa likes her. Like, likes her likes her. She even offered to do the dishes!"

Rapunzel grinned, "That's so cute!! It's about time!!!!!"

"IKR!?" Anna danced around her room "When will you be back, I can't wait to see you! I miss our snuggling!"

Rapunzel stretched out on her bed with a sigh, "I miss your snuggles too! I'll be back tomorrow, come over around four?"

"EEEEEE! Can't wait! Maybe you can get more details out of Cass? Elsa's been very tight lipped about the whole night. I dunno what she's worried about. I mean, I don't care if she likes men, women or horses. I might judge the horses thing, but you get the idea. She's my sister and I love her no matter what!"

Rapunzel grinned, "I'll see what I can get out of her, she can be so secretive sometimes!"

"Okay, I'll see you at 4 tomorrow!" Anna shot back, flopping on her bed, excited to see her best friend. She had been rather lonely growing up, with Elsa away at boarding school and her parents working so much. It was nice to have a friend.

Cassandra threw herself into work, pushed herself harder at the gym, even got ahead in her reading. Anything to distract herself. Even at the gym she was not even tempted to go look at the ice rink, she wanted to give Elsa her space. Days passed, she wanted so badly to text Elsa, but she didn't. She waited. Elsa would reach out when she was ready. She hoped, at least.

All day Friday, Elsa thought on what had happened. That was the first time she'd ever thawed anything. The kiss... What was it about it that made her able to _thaw_? Saturday came and still she thought of nothing but that night. She couldn't go much longer without at least acknowledging Cassandra, she had to say something. Saturday evening, she texted her. "Thank you so much for Thursday's dinner." After waiting a moment, she sent a follow-up. "We should talk about what happened."

Cassandra jumped when she heard her phone buzz, leaping across her bed to the desk where it was charging, almost fumbling the phone. _Please be Elsa... Please be Elsa_ she read the message "Right, of course... Where?"

"Come by my apartment?" She suggested, hoping it didn't seem too forward, "We won't be interrupted there." She explained.

Cassandra nodded even though there was no one to see. She had walked Elsa home a few times but had never gone in. She shot back "I'll be there in 15." she pulled on her nice jeans and a clean sweatshirt and sprinted out of her room, not to the elevator but to the bathroom, combing her hair with her fingers and brushing her teeth. It only took a minute. She tossed her toothbrush, it was time to get a new one anyway, and hurried to Elsa's apartment. She texted when she was outside "I'm here, I don't know which unit you are in."

Elsa got to her feet and took a deep breath, trying to summon her courage. She had to face this. She opened the door and waved to Cassandra with a small gesture, a nervous smile. "Here."

Cassandra's breath caught in her lungs, she had never seen Elsa's hair down, it was always in the same prim braid. _Focus, damn it!_ She willed herself to move one foot in front of the other, walking up the stairs to Elsa's apartment. She stopped at the threshold "Hi..." she chuckled awkwardly.

Elsa held the door open for her, "Come in." She smiled a little, but she was certain that her nerves were on display. "I... Trust that the rest of the sink thawed on its own?"

"I added some hot water but it's all good." Cassandra smiled softly "Look, I'm sorry I kissed you. I don't know what I was thinking. I wasn't thinking. I just figured, like, feelings make people warm and tingly inside, so maybe that would help, uh, warm you up... I know I'm just your student and I... hope it's not going to make things weird between us." she started word vomiting.

Elsa held up a hand to pause her, "No, no, it's... It's alright. I mean, we can't continue while you're my student, of course, but... It did work." She smiled softly, "I've never been able to do that before. To thaw."

"So... all this time, you been able to freeze but not thaw?" Cassandra asked gently

Elsa sighed, "As long as I can remember. It... It can be dangerous to be around me."

Cassandra pointed to Elsa's couch "May I?"

Elsa nodded, "Please." She took a seat on one side of the couch, realizing just how bare her hands felt right now. She wore no gloves.

Cassandra sat feeling something bulky under leg. Reaching under she grabbed a pair of gloves "Um, these are yours, I believe." she handed them over

Elsa took them, looking at the gloves thoughtfully. "Thank you. I... I think I'll go without for the moment." She still held them in hand.

Cassandra nodded "So, you've been holding this secret from everyone your whole life?"

Elsa breathed out, "My whole life. Except for my parents. They passed a few years ago. Anna... She knew when we were kids, but then I hurt her, and we all decided it was better she didn't know. Safer."

Cassandra listened quietly "That's a heavy burden to carry. You don't have to carry it on your own. If you want. But I get it if it's something you need to do on your own. Just, I'm here. If you ever need to talk. I'm not going anywhere. Because that's what friends do for one another. I made you a promise, after all."

Elsa smiled softly, running her fingers over the smooth material of the gloves. "I still don't understand how you were just so... So fine with it all."

Cassandra shrugged "I dunno, I just... you're Elsa. Even if you spit fire or had acid spit or something, you're you. And, it's good. _You're_ good. Nothing you can say or do will convince me otherwise."

Elsa couldn't hold back a chuckle. "Thank you. I... If someone knows my secret, I'm glad it's you."

"I can't imagine." Cassandra paused a moment. She couldn't expect Elsa to be sharing all this without evening the playing field. "Can I share some things about myself? Things I haven't told anyone either."

Elsa blinked, that wasn't what she expected, but she certainly wasn't going to turn down the chance to learn more about her. "Of course."

"I told you I served for 2 years in Iraq. But it was more than that. I was training to be Special OPs, I applied for every mission, I wanted to prove myself so badly. At least you don't want to hurt people with your gifts. I didn't care what I did. Who I hurt. Or who I killed. I was going to succeed. " Cassandra sighed. "Even my dad just thought I was a foot soldier."

"I can't imagine how difficult that must be to carry with you." Elsa said softly.

Cassandra shrugged "Well, they're my own sins and it's a burden I made for myself. My face, it’s a constant reminder, like life’s dues for what I’ve done. And I understand if you don’t want to see me anymore. I mean, technically I guess I'm a just a government sanctioned murderer. I guess I just wanted you to know who I am, or was... In the spirit of honesty and stuff.”

Elsa frowned, "That's not the case at all." She assured her.

Cassandra looked over at her “really?”

Elsa smiled, "Had my life been a different one, I could easily see myself going down the same path you did. You're driven. That's not a bad trait."

Cassandra smiled softly “thanks.” She finally tore her eyes from Elsa’s gaze and looked around the apartment “this is nice. Love the way you decorated it. I should probably start looking for apartments for next semester. I feel bad, leaving Raps, but I think she and your sister are going to room together next semester. They’re so alike.”

Elsa smiled, "From what I've heard, Anna practically lives there already." She chuckled.

“Yeah, she pretty much moved in. Not going to lie, I’m a little glad I didn’t have my aids for so long, I could see how they were feeding off each other’s energy and I can only imagine the giggling happening. I wouldn’t have gotten any sleep. But I’m glad they are happy.” Cassandra chuckled.

Elsa nodded, "I'm glad they have each other... And I'm glad I met you. Truly." She smiled at Cassandra, thinking. "... After the semester ends, maybe I can take you somewhere and show you more of what I can do, if you're interested? I usually go alone, but... It might be nice to have company for once."

Cassandra’s eyes widened “that would be so cool! Shit. Sorry, it just sort of slipped out. Oh god, I’m making it worse.” She cleared her throat “I’d like that.”

Elsa laughed and nodded, "Me too. But... Until the end of the year, we should certainly keep our, um, relationship professional. Friends, at least."

Cassandra’s heart nearly leapt out of her chest. Was Elsa suggesting what she thought she was? There was a glimmer of hope that there might be something more? She’d have to clear that up, but another day. This had already been a heavy night. “Professionally friends.” She agreed with a smile. “So, uh... I should probably be going. Unless there was something else you wanted to tell me. Oh, please don’t tell me you turn into an ogre at night. I wouldn’t mind, I’d just have to prepare a different menu. Wonder where I’d find swamp rats...” she teased her softly.

Elsa laughed and shook her head, "Nothing like that, no... Just the ice."

Cassandra smiled and stood “thank you, Elsa. For being you. I’ll see you Monday.”

Elsa smiled back and got to her feet. "Likewise, Cassandra... And for the record, the chocolate cake was _just amazing_."

Cassandra chuckled, she’d forgotten about the cake “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

Elsa brightened, "Oh wait! I have your Tupperware, hold on." She rushed into the kitchen and brought her the clean Tupperware, "Thanks again, Cassandra."

“You keep it. Bring it next time I cook for you.” Cassandra smiled back.

Elsa blushed and the room felt a bit cooler. "Oh, um... Alright." She nodded, "See you in class."

Cassandra smiled “see you later, Elsa.” She exited quickly, pulling the door right behind her.

Elsa watched the door close and took a deep breath. She couldn't wait for the end of the semester.

When Rapunzel got back to campus, she quickly rushed to her room to find Cassandra, "I'm back! Tell me everything!"

Cassandra was folding her socks, hardly having time to realize that the tornado rushing through their room was just Rapunzel. "Whoa, slow down there. Hi."

Rapunzel set down her backpack and grinned, "Hi! So Anna told me about dinner, but I want to hear it from you."

Cassandra blushed bright red "Oh... of course she did. Um... I made chicken risotto and chicken mole... and I made two soups. The dishes turned out pretty well"

Rapunzel chuckled, "Yeah, but what happened after Anna left?"

"Um... we talked." That wasn't untrue, right? Cassandra knew exactly what Rapunzel was angling for "Sorry to disappoint, it was just a nice, quiet evening between friends. Remember, she's our teacher, no matter what feelings may or may not be there. It has to be strictly professional." That thought reminded her of what Elsa said, about once semester ended and she wasn't her teacher anymore. She felt a hot blush steal across her cheeks and there was nothing she could do about it.

Rapunzel nodded, "Yeah, but what about _after_ she's not your teacher anymore?" She grinned expectantly.

Cassandra's blush intensified "Then... we will see where things go. I mean, I'd like to see where things go. I..." she stuttered a little.

Rapunzel squealed and jumped in place, "I knew it! Yes, okay, we should plan some kind of semester end celebration for all four of us!"

Cassandra nodded "That might be fun thing to do. Good idea. But only if I'm allowed to cook."

Rapunzel grinned, "Deal!"


	8. Chapter 8

Cassandra floated through the rest of the semester, happy to get back to the swing of things, though she did sorely miss her time with Elsa. It was for the best, for both of them. There were a few times their paths had crossed at the gym, but she kept to her promise to put feelings aside and keep things professional. She started planning the end of semester feast. Chocolate, of course, she made a hand dipped fruit array, pulling in Rapunzel's help for the more artistic bits. She made a beef roast with a cranberry glaze, along with cedar plank 'grilled' salmon, and a couple of veggie sides. She figured that Rapunzel would handle the logistics of getting Anna and Elsa there, so she just knew she had to be ready by 6 on the Saturday following finals week. 

By the time Saturday rolled around, all the food was ready to go and in various stages of cooking and she had almost finished packing her few belongings to be ready to move out on Monday, having found an apartment not far from campus, and a respectful distance from Elsa. Yes, there had been a unit available in her complex, but she knew how important privacy and space was for both of them. Besides, the one she found was cheaper and had a cute little stream that ran behind the complex. It was actually pretty close to the running trail she had been on when she saved Anna.

Cassandra looked around her empty side of her room "It's gonna be weird, Raps, not being here. You know you're welcome over any time. In fact... I have an early Christmas present for you." she slid a gold box with a sparkly bow over to her.

Rapunzel's eyes glittered at the box, "Oh, Cass! I love it already and I haven't even opened it!" She took the box and carefully unwrapped it, a bittersweet excitement rising in her. She was going to miss having Cass around all the time, but she was so excited to have Anna join her, and she knew Cass would be happier on her own... and eventually with Elsa.

Cassandra smiled as she watched Rapunzel open the gift. It was a spare key to her house. She’d had others made for Anna and Elsa, no pressure, just a symbolic gesture that they were a big part of her life. “It’s nothing big, just... you mean a lot to me Raps.”

Rapunzel squeaked and jumped up, throwing her arms around Cassandra to hug her. "Thank you!"

Cassandra grinned and hugged her back. “So let’s get the last finishing touches done for dinner! They’ll be here soon. Anna’s not exactly punctual, but you know Elsa will keep her on track. Did the dipped fruits come out alright?”

Rapunzel nodded, "They're so pretty, I carved the strawberries into roses, I think you'll like them! It also means there's more chocolate on them than there normally would be, but I don't think anyone will complain about that." She winked.

Cassandra grinned “you’re the best, Raps.”

"You are!" She chuckled back, "Also, I want to make you a painting for your new place. What do you want it to be of?"

Cassandra thought a moment then raised an eyebrow “of us, of course! What are you getting Anna?”

Rapunzel's eyes watered, "You're the best! I'll do it. Oh, I'm getting Anna this pretty necklace I found with these really pretty little details, here!" She rushed back over to her bag, pulling out the small box to show her. "I think she'll like it, don't you?" She opened it to reveal a rose gold necklace with diamond shaped details that led to a central shape something like a snowflake with a diamond in the center. "It might be a bit much, but I just saw it and thought of her!"

Cassandra looked at the necklace "I think it's perfect, she will love it!" Speaking of too much, she wondered if her actual present for Elsa might have been a little overboard. She had booked a cabin out of town for a weekend of Elsa's choosing, since she had said she liked being in nature. It was a big enough cabin for two, though she hoped Elsa would invite her along, but she was okay if she took her sister instead. Sisters came first, right?

Rapunzel grinned, "I'm so excited to give it to her. She really is so great. I can't believe I've already met such great people here, college is the BEST!"

Cassandra chuckled "Never lose that enthusiasm, Blondie."

Rapunzel chuckled, "I don't plan on it!"

Cassandra pulled Rapunzel in for another hug "Come on, let's go get dinner ready."

For once Anna had been the one on time, pulling Elsa down the hallway. She hadn't gotten Elsa to budge an inch on giving her any details about the last time they had dinner with Cassandra and she was dying to observe them again. And of course she wanted to see Rapunzel, too, but they were about to be roommates so they'd have all the time together soon. They had already planned on repainting the room and a number of other soft and cushy furniture items, opting to turn Rapunzel's bed into a bunkbed to save room. "Come on, Elsa, come on! We don't want to be late."

Elsa shook her head as she walked behind Anna, not quickening her pace, "I'm quite sure the food won't be going anywhere..." In truth, she was nervous. Excited. The semester was over, and now... there was nothing truly stopping her from exploring her feelings about Cassandra, except for the lingering fear in her mind that she might hurt her. Some things, you could never take back. She knew that all too well, now.

Anna finally relented and slowed her pace "So... did you get Cassandra anything for Christmas?"

Elsa blushed a little, "Yes." She admitted, but didn't go into detail. "Did you get something for Rapunzel?" She asked instead, hoping to avoid the probing.

Anna raised an eyebrow "Nuh uh... I know what you're doing. Deflection has been your defense since as long as I can remember, you're too predictable, sis!" She looked at her with wide expectant eyes.

Elsa chuckled, shaking her head, "Alright, alright... I got her some ice skates. Is that... too strange, do you think?" She blushed, suddenly fearing it was too forward, too specific. Would she even want to use them?

Anna squealed and shook her hands excitedly "That's cute! Wait... is it so you two can go skating together? Like... _together_ together?"

Elsa just continued walking with her eyes straight ahead, a small smile at her lips.

Anna jumped in front of her, walking backwards "I knew it! I KNEW IT!!!!"

Elsa laughed and held up her finger to her lips, "Try to keep this one a secret, okay? Please? I don't want to be too forward or anything, I just... wanted to get her something."

Anna stiffened and held her breath in an exaggerated, joking manner, pantomiming locking her mouth and throwing away the key. "I'm sure she'll love it. And I don't think it's too forward. I see how she looks at you... and ya know, that she made a 5 course meal for you last time we were here..."

Elsa blushed and nodded, "Well, I still don't want her to feel rushed. What did you get Rapunzel?"

Anna nodded "I guess I get that, too. Remember high school? Hans? Blargh! Almost biggest mistake of my life!" she flapped her arms to rid herself of the memory "Oh, right! I got her these awesome paints with glittery sparkles and some new canvases!"

Elsa smiled, "She's going to love them. And we don't speak of Hans, remember?" She winked.

Anna nodded "Totally agree! Ohhhhh, you smell that!? Smells like Cassandra went all out again. I wanted to bring something but she said she had the menu taken care of... so I took the liberty of getting drinks... adult beverages... cleverly disguised as juice."

Elsa gave her a look, but she knew it was too late to persuade her. "I didn't hear that..."

Anna chuckled "Fiiiiiiine... I brought grape juice... that sat around for a couple years..."

Elsa gave her a little smile as they stepped into the building, "Sounds delicious."

Anna twirled around as she entered, her bags swirling around in her arms "Oh, I'm so excited!"

Elsa smiled a bit wider, Anna's excitement was so infectious. It didn't hurt that she could already smell the food, and the fact that she was going to see Cassandra for the first time not as her teacher.

Anna bounced on her toes as she waited for the elevator.

Cassandra looked up from setting the table when she heard the elevator door ding "They're here! Does it look okay? Did I make enough food? Oh god, I should have made another entree..." she started to fret.

Rapunzel took Cassandra by the shoulders, "You're fine, everything's perfect! We have more than enough food, and Elsa's going to love it all." She smiled, "Right?"

Cassandra took a breath "Am I being obvious?"

"A bit. But she's going to love it." Rapunzel promised her with a smile. "Just relax and be yourself!"

Cassandra nodded "Okay, yeah, you're right..." she clasped her hands in front of herself as she waited. She had opted to try wearing something other than sweats. She had found a red plaid flannel button up and had even picked up some new jeans. She exhaled loudly, one last attempt to calm herself down. _Why was she so nervous?_ Well, she knew why, but still.

Elsa had worn one of her favorite winter dresses, pale blue and knee length with some simple embroidery up top, with cream leggings beneath and simple heeled boots. As the elevator opened to their floor, the delicious smells of freshly-made food assaulted her in the best way. "Oh... That all smells amazing." She smiled as they made their way to the common room.

Anna came bursting into the common room "Hellllloooooooo! Happy end of semester you two! I brought bubblyyyyyy! I mean... juice. I brought juice." She held the bags out to Cassandra.

Cassandra was grateful to Anna for instantly relieving the tension she was feeling "And what a perfect way to celebrate, great idea Raps and Anna." she went forward to grab the bags from Anna.

Rapunzel grinned and jumped forward to greet Anna, throwing her arms around her. "Happy end of semester!" 

Elsa smiled and nodded, "A wonderful idea. Is there anything I can help with?" She looked to Cassandra, feeling a surge of warmth in her.

Cassandra looked up just in time to catch Elsa's gaze "uh... yeah... umm... maybe you can help me with the drinks?" she looked at the bottle "Wait, how did she get her hands on this?" The label had been carefully removed and replaced with a "Martinelli's Cider" label.

Elsa chuckled, "I have no idea... but she's resourceful." She moved over to Cassandra, searching the cupboards for cups.

Cassandra watched "Um, why don't I wash those first, I wouldn't trust the quality of their last cleaning." she went over to the sink to soap up the sponge.

Elsa nodded, considering her last brush with that particular sink, she thought it safer to avoid the water. "I'll dry?"

"Sounds great." Cassandra smiled as she hurried to wash four cups, carefully handing them to Elsa, making a point not to touch her. "So, have you recovered from your end of term project?"

Elsa took a cloth and began to dry the now clean cups. "More or less. I survived, somehow." She chuckled, "How are you feeling after finals?"

"Pretty good, it definitely helped being able to hear the lectures again. Though I did enjoy our study sessions." Cassandra washed her hands and opened the bottle with a loud pop "I feel a little more than guilty about enabling this. Though if Raps is going to drink, I would rather her be somewhere safe with people she can trust."

Elsa nodded, "I feel the same. At least we can be sure they're safe."

Cassandra nodded and poured the champagne. "This is a one time thing you two." she handed Anna and Rapunzel their cups. "But clever replacing the label, Anna."

Elsa gave Anna a wry smile, shaking her head. So clever, that one. Too clever sometimes. "Don't think you'll get away with this again." She added, taking a cup of her own when Cassandra offered it.

Cassandra grabbed her cup "Well, cheers to the end of the semester."

Anna held her cup up "And the best of friends!"

Elsa smiled and raised her cup, "Good company."

Rapunzel held up her cup, grinning, "And new beginnings!"

Cassandra nodded and took a sip of her drink. She didn't drink often, it just never was appealing to her, but this seemed a good enough time to make an exception. "Well, if you all want to take a seat, I'll start bringing out the food. I made a roast with cranberry glaze, cedar grilled salmon, lemon pepper broccoli, bacon brusselsprouts..."

Elsa took a seat, looking over the food with wonder, "This is incredible... You truly outdid yourself, Cassandra."

Cassandra grinned "Thank you for letting me spoil you all... I hope you like it!" She dished herself some salmon and broccoli. "Did you remember to bring your Tupperwares?"

Elsa smiled and nodded, pointing to the cloth bag she'd brought, now sitting off to the side. "All set."

Anna looked over at Rapunzel and winked, shoveling food into her mouth.

Rapunzel grinned, eagerly going to town on her food. Elsa ate happily as well, though she was much more deliberate with her bites. "This is wonderful, Cassandra."

Cassandra smiled, seeing Elsa so happy made everything worth it. “I’m glad you all like it! Maybe we can set a monthly group dinner next semester?”

Elsa smiled at that, "I like that idea."

Rapunzel beamed, "Yes! Oh yes yes yes."

“Charades!!!!” Anna squealed excitedly “please tell me we can play games too!”

Rapunzel grinned, "I've always wanted to play charades!!"

Cassandra chuckled “sure, we can play charades.” She ate a few minutes before speaking again “So, what’s everyone doing for the break?”

Rapunzel smiled, "I'm going home to spend the holidays with my family. We've got a lot of holidays to catch up on."

Elsa smiled politely, "Well, Anna and I hadn't really talked about the holidays yet, but we usually do a meal, at least."

Cassandra nodded “that makes sense, Raps. So you two are sticking around here?” She turned to Anna and Elsa.

Elsa smiled at Anna, "Probably so. We're the only family we have left."

Cassandra nodded softly, knowingly. “I’m staying too. My dad’s abroad right now, so kinda pointless to go back. Plus I need to move into my place. I’ll do a housewarming party once Raps is back.”

Anna smiled, "That sounds like fun!"

Cassandra grinned “oh, that reminds me!” She reached into her pocket and pulled out two little boxes, sliding one to each Anna and Elsa. “It’s just something silly.”

Anna opened hers immediately, gasping, "Oooh!"

Elsa blinked, unable to see what was in Anna's box, so she opened her own, taking care not to rip the paper. When she pulled out the key, she smiled and blushed, "Really?" She was touched. Hopeful.

Cassandra shrugged nonchalantly "You all mean so much to me, and you're welcome over any time" but she smiled warmly at Elsa, trying to be subtle. Honestly this whole group gift had really just been a ploy to be able to slip her one. She figured Rapunzel would be over a lot anyway, so it was preemptive, and Anna was joined at her hip, so in a way it all made sense.

Elsa smiled back at Cassandra and got up from the table, "Since we're doing gifts..." She got the box out that she'd stashed in her bag and slid it to Cassandra, neatly wrapped in silver with a hand tied bow. "You don't have to open it right now, I just didn't want to forget."

Cassandra's eyes widened when she saw the box "Oh, wow, Elsa."

Rapunzel took a quick cue and dramatically facepalmed "Oh, Anna, I forgot your present! It's in the room, let's go!"

Anna grinned and grabbed the other bottle of champagne and followed Anna down the hall with a squeal.

Cassandra could have kissed Rapunzel. She'd have to thank her later. She turned to Elsa "Can I open it now?"

Elsa nodded, "If you'd like." She sat back down, grateful that the others had darted away.

Cassandra opened the box "Oh, Elsa... you're trying to kill me!" she laughed. The skates were beautiful and exactly her size. She assumed Rapunzel had something to do with that. "I love them... thank you. Does this mean you are also inviting me to skate with you or are you just going to watch the college's new zamboni at work?"

Elsa chuckled, "I'd like the company... And I'd enjoy teaching you, if it's something you'd like?"

Cassandra smiled "I'd like that. Though I will warn you, I will probably have to lean on you a lot. I have horrible balance." she grinned and looked over at the counter "I got you something else, it's not wrapped as nice... It's on the counter under the red towel."

Elsa looked over at the counter, surprised. She stood and uncovered it slowly. She covered her mouth with one hand, smiling. "Oh, it's adorable! I love it."

“It's not as good as you could probably design, but when you're working with gumdrops and toothpicks, there's limited options for making houses. Real present is inside." Cassandra could have burst with happiness as she watched Elsa.

Elsa blinked, surprised that there was more. She gently took off the roof and looked inside, taking out the confirmation for a cabin trip. She blushed, "Oh, Cassandra... That sounds incredible."

“You said you liked being out in nature..." Cassandra added. "It's for two. And I get if you wanted to take Anna. I just want you to have a nice weekend, you deserve it."

Elsa smiled and looked over the confirmation paper thoughtfully, "Anna isn't so great with the outdoors. Would you like to join me instead?"

Cassandra beamed, warmth spreading to her face "I'd like that a lot." she hadn't wanted to assume Elsa would invite her, it was her choice to invite whomever she wanted, but selfishly she had really hoped it would be her.

Elsa smiled and took her seat beside Cassandra at the table. "Good. I would, too."

"I'll bring my skates, there's a lake nearby." Cassandra grinned "And I know you don't need them..."

Elsa chuckled, "It's true... I think it'll be good for both of us to get a chance to get away from civilization for a bit."

"It would be nice. Having a break." Cassandra smiled. 

Anna, with Rapunzel and another empty bottle of champagne in tow, came bursting back in "Adult supervision check!" she giggled. Clearly the 'juice' had gone to her head. "Lemme see those hands!"

Elsa looked over at Anna and held up her hands, "Happy? And I wonder if we should be the ones doing the checks..."

Anna grinned and hiccuped a little "All good, sis!"

Cassandra raised an eyebrow "Well, Elsa, at least we know she doesn't do this very often, she's got the tolerance of... I don't even know what analogy to make."

Elsa chuckled, "True... Maybe it's a good time to switch to water, Anna? Don't want a hangover."

"Probably a great idea." Cassandra took Anna's cup and rinsed it out, returning with water. "C'mere, you and Raps are going to continue your sleepover in the room. Raps, make sure she stays there, okay? I'll be back in a sec, Elsa." she scooped Anna up in her arms with ease, carrying her back to room 1114.

Rapunzel chuckled and nodded, "Aye aye!" She trotted along behind her, intent on following dutifully.

Anna wrapped her hands around Cass's neck to hold on, then squeezed her arm "Wowwwww... you've got really big muscles! Elsa, have you felt these guns? Jesus, what do you eat for breakfast, woman?"

Elsa chortled to herself, shaking her head. She was grateful they were out of the room, it was a few degrees colder at the moment.

Cassandra tucked Anna in and returned to Elsa "So... like I said, if they're going to drink, as long as they're safe. She's got no tolerance whatsoever! Then again, my dad gave me whiskey to make me sleep when I was a kid, so eh."

Elsa chuckled and shook her head, "I guess I'm glad to know that she hasn't been sneaking drinks until now... or at least she's been doing it rarely. I'd rather not think about it that hard."

"That's fair. I never had a sister. Rapunzel's about the closest thing I've got." Cassandra snorted, starting to clear the table. "Do you have the Tupperware?"

Elsa nodded and got out the containers, bringing them to the food bowls. "Do you think you'd like becoming a chef? You really have a knack for this..."

"Never thought about it, really. But maybe you're right. This makes me really happy." Cassandra dished up the food "Good thing I haven't declared my major yet. Hey! Maybe you can design a self-sustaining restaurant for me? Like, rooftop garden for the veggies or something."

Elsa beamed, "I would be thrilled to. A garden out back for fresh herbs, greenhouse built into the roof for the cooler months so that it cuts down on warming costs and keeps you with fresh ingredients year round..."

"Yeah, exactly! That sounds awesome! But like sleek, too." Cassandra grinned "Hey, maybe could I see some of your work some time? Or is it like, private. I've been curious what keeps you up all night. Aside from the skating."

Elsa smiled, "I'd love to show you some of my favorites."

Cassandra beamed "Yeah? Awesome!" she took the empty dishes over to the sink "I wash, you dry?"

Elsa nodded, "Probably wisest."

"Wouldn't want a repeat of last time, huh?" Cassandra grinned and started scrubbing "So... speaking of last time... you asked me why I wasn't freaking out... I already knew. Or was like 95% suspecting."

Elsa blushed, "Really? How? I.. I do my best to hide it."

"You did, but there were a couple things. Skating with no skates, of course, but that 'sleepover night' you cooled my mug. I could feel it, though it was subtle. Maybe it's the whole lose a sense and the others become heightened. I never told though. It wasn't mine to tell." Cassandra admitted.

Elsa smiled softly, looking down at the dish she was drying. "Thank you. I... I always had a feeling I could trust you."

"I'm safe. You can always trust me, count on me." Cassandra offered.

Elsa nodded slowly, "I believe that."

Cassandra nodded and handed Elsa the last plate. "That went much faster with two."

She smiled and nodded, drying the final plate before putting it away. "Things often do."

Cassandra looked around "We did good, like we were never here." she cleared her throat awkwardly "And, thank you for the skates. I look forward to trying them out with you." She grabbed the box and a cushion and pillow off the couch, assuming Elsa could handle carrying the leftovers.

Elsa saw her grab the cushions and frowned, "... Why don't you stay at my place tonight? I can't just leave knowing you'll be sleeping on the floor when I have more than enough room."

“Oh.... uh... yeah, sure, thanks.” Cassandra hadn’t considered that outcome, so the offer caught her off guard. “I’ll just grab some stuff out of my room, won’t take long.”

Elsa smiled and nodded, "Alright." She blushed, tempted to let her share her bed, but she was still scared of hurting her. Maybe... Maybe it was time to try something new, though. She'd just offer and they'd figure it out from there.

Cassandra practically sprinted to her room, tossing some quick overnight stuff into her bag. She heard Rapunzel stir, despite Anna’s soft snoring, “not a word.” She closed the door behind her and returned quickly to Elsa “ready!”

Elsa smiled, "Great, okay. Wonderful." She stepped into the elevator with her, "So... I have a rather large bed, I'm happy to share if you want? But I also have a couch, if you'd feel more comfortable alone I can take the couch..."

Cassandra shook her head “you are not sleeping on the couch in your own home. I’m good with whatever you’re comfortable with.”

Elsa chuckled, "Alright then... Just promise you'll wake me if you hear me having a nightmare?" She added softly, "I don't want to hurt you."

“I promise. Elsa, I know you’re worried, but I’m not scared. You’ll be okay. This will be okay.” Cassandra tried to reassure her, wanting so badly to put a hand on her shoulder but also knew that physical touch was probably the last thing she needed. She would just let Elsa come to her when she was ready.

Elsa smiled, but it faltered, "I just... I can't let anything go wrong, I couldn't forgive myself if I hurt you, and I really want this to go well, I want _us_ to go well, I mean, not that we're already an 'us', but we're... Something? Right? I'm... Really not doing well with words right now."

Cassandra smiled softly "It's okay, Elsa. I'm strong, in more ways than one and I know you won't hurt me." she held out her hand "whenever you're ready, it's there for you. But there's no pressure. Whatever 'we' become, we'll get there in our own time, and we'll get there together. You don't have to be alone anymore." _When did she become the one with words?_

Elsa looked at her hand for a moment, then took off her glove and laid her hand on Cassandra's. She couldn't live her life in fear forever. She looked up into her eyes with a soft smile. "Neither do you."

Cassandra smiled, Elsa's skin was cool to the touch "This is nice. I think I've wanted this from our first day of class... wait no, I don't think, I know." she chuckled awkwardly

Elsa blushed, but instead of cold, she felt herself warm the air between them. That was new. "I... Was scared to admit it to myself, but I've been wanting this, too."

Cassandra smiled and turned to continue walking towards Elsa's apartment, she felt warm, inside and out. It took every ounce of her strength not to be skipping or jumping or something silly.

Elsa held her hand, feeling as if Cassandra's warmth was filling her inside. She led her to her door and unlocked it, opening it for Cassandra.

Cassandra followed Elsa inside, feeling much more nervous this time than her previous visit. She set her bag on the couch and turned to Elsa "So... I should, uh, probably change, because, you know, can't sleep naked, right? I mean, you can... just... uh. Yeah, I'll be right back." she grabbed her bag again and headed for the bathroom to shut herself up.

Elsa blushed and retreated to her room to change into her nightgown. She played with her hair, ultimately deciding to leave it down.

Cassandra hurried to change into loose basketball shorts and a tank top. She also brushed her teeth and hair before walking down the hall to Elsa's room. Her feet felt like lead walking through peanut butter and honey. "Elsa? Are you, um, ready?"

Elsa played with her hair over her shoulder, "Yes, I'm ready." She smiled, peeking out from the bedroom.

Cassandra paused, she forgot how much she liked seeing Elsa's hair down, but she shook it off and kept walking. But when she saw Elsa's entire outfit, her brain definitely misfired, her nightgown left very little to the imagination. "Oh, uh..." she quickly tore her eyes off her body trying to look anywhere but at her "Oh, yeah, you weren't joking when you said you have a big bed!"

Elsa smiled shyly as she looked over her muscled form. She was even more chiseled than she thought. She chuckled, "Yes, well... It's coming in handy finally. Go ahead and get yourself comfortable and I'll just finish up in the bathroom."

"Do you have a side preference?" Cassandra stared intently at a pillow

Elsa looked at the bed, "I usually sleep on the side by the window."

Cassandra nodded and moved to the other side, laying down on top of the blankets. The bed was very comfortable, she had to admit. She stared at the ceiling, waiting for Elsa to return.

Elsa cleaned up for the night, brushing her teeth and hair before heading back into her bedroom. She shut out the overhead light, leaving only the lamp on her bedside table as she climbed into bed. She looked over at Cassandra as she climbed under the covers, "Come on, it's much warmer under here."

"I felt weird getting in first." Cassandra admitted, crawling under the covers.

Elsa smiled at her, laying on her side to face Cassandra. "I can understand that... But it's alright."

Cassandra turned over to mirror her position, gazing into Elsa's crystal blue eyes "So, guess we're having a proper sleepover finally, huh? Man, Raps and Anna are going to give us so much crap tomorrow. So. Do you want to talk about it? About um, us?"

Elsa looked at her in the soft light and smiled, "We probably should..."

Cassandra nodded "yeah..." she agreed quietly "I'm not good with talking about feelings, but... I like you."

Elsa smiled and blushed, "I like you, too. More than I should, I think sometimes."

"Same. And like, things were easier, when I was in your class, because well, I knew nothing could happen. But now, I'm scared... Of messing up." Cassandra looked away, shy.

Elsa nodded, "Me too... But we can at least try, right?"

"You want to try?" Cassandra looked up hopefully at her, her heart pounding hard in her chest. "Because I'm like 100 million percent down with that."

Elsa chuckled and nodded, "If I keep saying no out of fear... I'll be alone forever. I don't want that. I'm ready to jump in, if you are?"

Cassandra nodded with big eyes, moving her hand into the space between them "I am."

Elsa took her hand with a smile and nodded, "Well then... Only one question left. Cassandra... Will you be my girlfriend?"

Cassandra beamed, gently squeezing Elsa's hand in hers "Abso-fucking-lutely." She gazed at Elsa a moment and then tilted her head forward "Can I kiss you? And not in the 'let's get your hands unstuck from the sink' kind of way?"

Elsa chuckled and nodded, "I would like that very much." She closed the distance between them and kissed her softly, meaningfully.

Cassandra practically melted, carefully pressing her lips to Elsa's. It was better than anything she had imagined. She reached up with her free hand and gently stroked her cheek, moving her hair out of the way. She pulled away after a while, needing to breathe. "Wow" she whispered softly.

Elsa grinned at her, feeling more warm than she had in a long time. Ever, maybe. "Wow indeed..."

Cassandra lay there, lazily rubbing her thumb along Elsa's jaw. "Not to ruin the moment, but in the spirit of talking about things... have you ever considered telling Anna?"

Elsa leaned into her touch, closing her eyes. "I... I wanted to. I started to a dozen times at least, but... Every time I can't help but remember the moment my magic struck her, how lifeless she was, how cold."

Cassandra nodded "I can't imagine what that must have been like to go through, especially as a child just learning about your abilities. And it's totally not my place, I just can't help but think, you know? She's your sister, she loves you no matter what. Sorry I brought it up, I guess I just feel kind of weird knowing something about you that she doesn't."

Elsa nodded, "Maybe it is time... Our parents had a therapist convince her that it was nice her imagination. She'll be upset to know that, but... She deserves the truth."

"I think she'd appreciate hearing it from you" Cassandra nodded gently "Do you like to snuggle?"

Elsa smiled wider, "I haven't since I was little... I would love to. Should I turn, or... How should we...?"

"We could try both ways and see which feels right." Cassandra turned her back to Elsa "I'm ready... snuggle me!" she giggled softly

Elsa chuckled and put her arms around her, holding her firmly with her chin on her shoulder. "How's this?"

"It feels nice. Shall we try the other way?" Cassandra didn't mind having her back to Elsa, but there was a part of her that wanted to be the big spoon, as if she were protecting her even in their sleep. But she also had to remind herself that it wasn't wrong for someone to want to do that for her.

Elsa nodded and let go, turning to offer her back to Cassandra.

Cassandra scooted forward until her body was pressed flush against Elsa's back and carefully draped an arm over her waist. "How's this?"

Elsa snuggled back against her with a smile, closing her eyes. "Wonderful. Better than I could have ever imagined."

"It's perfect. I'm going radio silent, just poke me if you need me to move or wake up or something." Cassandra smiled leaning away a moment to put her hearing aids on the bedside table before scooching back in, her forehead rested against the back of Elsa's head, her arm back to being draped across the curve of her waist, thumb idly rubbing her stomach.

Elsa snuggled back against her. She felt safe, warm, home. It didn't take her long to drift away into sleep.

Cassandra slept more soundly than she had since before she had been deployed, feeling Elsa's rhythmic heartbeat and breathing was soothing.


	9. Chapter 9

Cassandra woke the next morning at her usual 5am, taking a moment to remind herself of where she was, and who she was with. She was still firmly curled around Elsa, neither of them had moved an inch that night. She just lay there, unmoving, her arms wrapped around the blond. She loved feeling the rhythm of Elsa's breathing against her, the steady rise and fall of her chest was oddly calming.

Elsa had a deep, dreamless sleep, the likes of which she couldn't remember having before. She woke to the sun peeking through her curtains and snuggled back against Cassandra, content to lay with her until she woke.

Cassandra could feel the shift in Elsa's breathing, indicating that she was either awake or waking up. She nuzzled Elsa's hair with her nose to see if she was responsive.

Elsa smiled and turned her head a little, "Up already?"

Cassandra lifted her head up when she felt slight vibrations against the pillow, only letting go once she had confirmed Elsa was awake so that her movement wouldn't disturb her, and quickly put her hearing aids back in. She instantly missed the warmth between them and snuggled back up against her. "Did you say something?"

Elsa smiled, "Sorry, yes. Just surprised you're up already too."

Cassandra chuckled "Could say the same for you. I'm up early, old habits die hard." she rolled onto her back and pulled Elsa over so her head rested on her chest and shoulder "Did you sleep well?"

Elsa gladly settled in, "Better than I ever have. Did you?"

"Best sleep I've had in over three years." Cassandra grinned at the ceiling. "I usually get up and do a morning workout, but this is nice, I could really get used to it instead." She reached her free arm over and traced lazy shapes on Elsa's arm, playing with the ends of her hair "I like your hair down. I mean, I like it braided, too... just, down is more fun to play with."

"I could get used to this too." She smiled and shivered happily with her touches. "I'm glad. I've been thinking of keeping it down more often..."

Cassandra kept up snuggling until a very loud, very violent rumble in her stomach told her it was breakfast time “sorry... much of my day is dictated by my stomach” she chuckled awkwardly “are you hungry?”

Elsa chuckled, "I am... Shall we have leftovers or go out? We could bring some food for Anna and Rapunzel and check on them..."

“Hmmm, there’s that cute little breakfast and coffee spot. Raps usually isn’t up until the double digits, so we’ve got time. We can take them pastries perhaps.” Cassandra reluctantly sat up.

Elsa smiled and nodded, "Anna isn't a morning person either, so we'll have plenty of time together before they even think of waking up."

“Together.” Cassandra beamed, still a little in shock that Elsa wanted her. “Do you mind if I just do some quick exercises around here, just to wake up? It won’t take me long.”

Elsa smiled, "Of course."

Cassandra grinned and leaned over to kiss her quickly before rolling off the bed and into a set of push ups. She did several sets of push ups and crunches, 50 reps per, before hopping up. “Much better, thanks.”

Elsa watched her with a smile, admiring her. "I certainly didn't mind the view."

Cassandra grinned “oh really?”

Elsa nodded, "I almost froze the whole room when I saw you lifting weights."

Cassandra laughed so hard she snorted “I thought I saw you watching me.”

Elsa laughed as well, "I froze my tea solid when I saw you! It was all I could do to keep from icing the whole room."

Cassandra grinned “I didn’t realize I had such an effect on you.”

"Oh, you did have an effect on me. A rather large one."

Cassandra smiled, suddenly remembering something Anna had said “you know, if you were up for it, I could use a little help with weight lifting some time.”

"Really?" She brightened, "I'd be happy to."

Cassandra smirked "I may be in the market for some new weights. How still can you be?"

"Like ice." She winked, "Oh wait, you mean for me to... _Oooh_."

Cassandra chuckled "Yeah, one time I lifted Raps up over my head once and Anna said that you would get a kick out of it."

Elsa laughed, "I am... It's hilarious and impressive all at once."

"One day perhaps" Cassandra grinned and hopped up to her feet "Mmm, just let me brush my teeth and change and I should be ready to go. Thanks for indulging me. I get a little antsy if I have too much energy."

Elsa smiled and got to her feet, "It's perfectly fine. I've got to get ready as well."

"But first" Cassandra pulled Elsa in for a quick kiss before releasing her "I'll see you in a few minutes." she hurried out to where she left her night bag, grabbing fresh clothes and heading for the second bathroom.

Elsa smiled and watched her go, then headed to her closet to pick out something perfect for a breakfast date. _That's what this was now, wasn't it? This was all so new to her._

Cassandra was grateful she had only brought one change of clothes... otherwise she might have tried on 6 different outfits before she was satisfied. She pulled on her red flannel and jacket, brushed her teeth three times and then went out to wait for Elsa in the living room.

Elsa settled on an icy blue dress and white boots with a loose white sweater over the dress. Enough to look appropriate for winter, but anyone else might be wanting for layers. She pulled her hair to one side over her shoulder and smiled as she made it into the living room. "Ready?"

Cassandra's jaw dropped when she saw Elsa return "wow... am I dreaming? How did I get so lucky?"

Elsa blushed and headed for the door, "I'm the lucky one. Come on, I can drive us."

"Oh, you have a car?" Cassandra grinned

Elsa nodded, "I prefer to walk most places, but a car sounds best suited to our needs right now."

"That's true... I usually just walk. I could get a car if I wanted... I just don't care much about material stuff. I'm really bad about spoiling myself. I have a storage unit with some stuff... there's something in there you might like, but that's a surprise for another day." Cassandra chuckled "I might try to spoil you, just let me know if it's too much. I'm kinda new to this and knowing what is appropriate and what is too much."

Elsa smiled, "Likewise. I don't really know how things are done... We can pave that road together."

Cassandra smiled back and offered Elsa her hand.

Anna rolled over with a groan, grabbing her head "Why do I feel like there's a reindeer tap dancing on my head?"

Rapunzel snorted, "Cause you brought the bubbly and you enjoyed the bubbly. A lot." She giggled.

"Oh... right." Anna slowly sat up "oh, I'm in Cassandra's bed... wait, where's Cassandra?"

Rapunzel blinked and looked around, then slowly grinned, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Anna took a second to process then a huge grin spread across her face "You think?!"

Rapunzel squealed and nodded, "Has to be!"

Anna squealed and hopped over to Rapunzel's bed, snuggling next to her "Cheers to us and awesome teamwork, though can we maybe skip alcohol for a little bit." her stomach churned at even the thought of alcohol.

Rapunzel nodded, "Yeah... Not a bad idea." She snuggled close, playing with her hair.

Anna leaned against Rapunzel's shoulder "So, what color would you like to paint? I can get working on it while you're away."

"All of them!" She grinned.

"Okay, how about I put down a lilac purple base and then you and I can paint it all the colors together when you get home!?" Anna giggled

Rapunzel nodded, "Perfect, that's my favorite color! How did you know?"

"Lucky guess, also like all of your clothes are purple... didn't you notice?"

Rapunzel looked at her clothes, "Huh... Nope, never realized!"

"I'm so excited to live here with you! You're going to be the best roommate ever and we're going to have sleepovers every night and family game night with Cassandra!" Anna grinned

Rapunzel grinned and nodded excitedly, "It's gonna be perfect!"

Cassandra stood outside the door, holding tight to Elsa "Are you ready for this? You know they're going to tackle us."

Elsa chuckled and nodded, "Maybe not so badly if we hold out the pastries?"

“Pastries first." Cassandra agreed, kissing Elsa's forehead before opening the door.

Elsa smiled, holding onto Cassandra's hand as they entered. She was surprised to find them both awake. 

Rapunzel grinned and bounced on the bed when she saw them come in, "I knew it!!"

Anna smiled "Finallllllllly!"

Cassandra smiled softly "Yeah... just can't be dating the teacher, right. Even though you were the sexiest teacher and I have to say, that would be kind fun to..."

Anna covered her ears "Lah lah lah lah, I don't wanna know that!"

Rapunzel giggled, "But you guys are finally togetherrr!"

Elsa blushed hard, "We brought you pastries. Thought you might be going hungry."

Anna moved faster than she had moved the last 3 months, vaulting off the bed and into the pastry bag "ooohh, you even got bear claws!" she took a huge bite then offered the bag over to Rapunzel. “Mmmmm... 'punzel?”

Rapunzel eagerly took a bear claw and bit in. "You guys are the beeessst."

Elsa gave Cassandra a wink.

Cassandra grinned and sat down on her bed, pulling out her chocolate croissant and offered the bag to Elsa "Mmm, I've been looking forward to this!"

Elsa took the bag and sat beside her with a smile, "Me too."

Anna grinned, watching Elsa and Cassandra "You know, all joking aside... I'm really excited for you two."

Elsa smiled, "Thank you. And I hope we can count on you to stop trying to set us up at every chance now?"

Anna shrugged innocently "What? You guys looked like you needed a little push... or shove... watching you two make awkward eyes at each other was getting old!"

Elsa gave Anna a look, "We couldn't do anything while I was her teacher, but... I am glad we're together now."

Cassandra nodded "Yepppp... all things happen in good time." she raised an eyebrow at Elsa.

Elsa leaned against her, catching her gaze. "Right... And on that note, I... Have something to share with you two."

Cassandra could feel Elsa's skin was significantly cooler already "It's okay, you got this." she gave her hand a squeeze and settled back on her pillow, still holding Elsa's hand.

Anna squealed and bounced onto Rapunzel's bed, snuggling against her "Oooh, story time with Elsa!"

Elsa took a deep breath. Holding Cassandra's hand helped keep her anchored, she could do this. "I... Since I was born, I've had... Abilities. That other people don't. It might be better to show rather than tell..." She lifted her free hand and created a little chameleon out of ice in her hand.

Anna watched, eyes wide. "Excuse me, _what?!_ "

Rapunzel's eyes widened and she jumped up to take the little ice creature with a grin. "Can I keep him?"

Elsa blushed, "You can... And Anna, I know this is probably difficult... What you remember as a child, it wasn't your imagination."

Anna just sat there, dumbfounded "All this time? Mom and Dad made me feel like I was crazy! The shrink told me it was just a childhood fantasy! Is that why you were suddenly shipped off to boarding school? Were you even at boarding school?" she shook her head "Elsa, you're my sister, I love you no matter what, this... this is just a lot to take in, okay?"

Elsa nodded and got to her feet, "I'm so sorry, Anna... They told me it was safer to keep it from you. I promise you, from now on, no more secrets."

"But... even after they were gone, you could have told me! You went away to college! Didn't you wonder why I came here? I wanted to be close to you again! I needed my sister!" Anna's eyes started to water, unsure of what emotions she was feeling.

Elsa wrapped her arms around herself. "I'm so sorry, Anna. It was fear that kept me at a distance, my fear. I take responsibility for that. I was scared I'd hurt you again."

"Again?" Rapunzel frowned, watching the two of them.

Anna nodded "my birthmark? That was from you, wasn't it?" she pulled her shirt to the side revealing a off-colored shape that looked roughly like a snowflake on her left shoulder.

Elsa nodded, "I... We were playing, You were going so fast and you wanted me to catch you with my powers and I tried to keep up, but I... I struck you. And I've never forgotten it."

Anna fumed in silence. She was angry and hurt. As she calmed down she could see where Elsa was coming from, why she did what she did. All this time she was trying to protect her little sister. "Elsa... I'm not going to say that not telling me about this was okay, but I think I understand why you did it, and I forgive you. And I'm really glad you told me. Just, please, no more lies or secrets. We're sisters. We're all each other has, and you've always got me. I don't want to lose you."

Elsa looked to Anna, hopeful. "You won't. I'm right here, and I swear... No more secrets." Cautious, she held out her hands for her.

Anna grinned and held her hand out for Elsa, pulling her into a deep hug. "You don't have to hide anymore." she whispered quietly.

Elsa wrapped her arms around Anna, her eyes watering. "No more hiding." She promised. "No more secrets."

Anna held Elsa close “the skating makes so much more sense now.”

Elsa laughed as tears fell down her cheeks. "Yes, well... You should come with sometime."

Anna looked up at her and brushed one of her tears off her cheek “I’d like that.” She held out an arm for Rapunzel “c’mere snuggle time!”

Rapunzel quickly wrapped around the both of them, "Thank you for trusting me... I'm assuming this needs to stay between us?"

Elsa chuckled and nodded, waving Cassandra over with one hand. "Please."

Cassandra got up and cuddled up next to Elsa, taking her hand. “Proud of you.” She whispered quietly in her ear, kissing her jaw softly.

Elsa smiled when she heard a squeak, "Are we hugging too hard?"

Cassandra loosened her grip “sorry, that might have been me if I squeezed too hard.”

Rapunzel shook her head, "There's no such thing as too much hug."

Another squeak sounded from behind them and Rapunzel pulled away, "It came from over here... Do we have mice?"

Cassandra laughed, “no... and you probably would have tried to befriend them if we did!”

"I still would!" Rapunzel started looking around, only to blink at the ice sculpture who blinked right back at her. "Oh. My. Goodness!!" She scooped him up, "I'm naming you Pascal." The little chameleon squeaked happily.

Elsa blinked, shocked. "... That is new."

Cassandra looked on from where she was standing “is... is it alive? Did you know you could do that?”

Rapunzel held him out for them, and Pascal wrapped his tail around her wrist, hanging from it playfully.

Elsa stared, shocked. "I've never done that before... Oh, let me make sure he doesn't melt..." She swirled her fingers and a layer of permafrost appeared around him, to which he gave a delighted squeak.

Cassandra watched Elsa work, completely mesmerized. “I have the coolest girlfriend.”

Elsa leaned against Cassandra, "Well, this has been... Exciting."

“Indeed” Cassandra happily looped herself around Elsa, resting her cheek on Elsa’s head “you’re perfect height for this.”

Elsa chuckled, "I'm glad..."

"Awww, c'mon guys, stop being so cute!" Anna rolled her eyes "Oh, Cassandra, when can we see your new place?"

"Well, I get to start moving in on Monday, though it will take me a little while to get furniture, thank goodness for holiday sales!" Cassandra grinned. "Though, if you guys are around, I could maybe use help with interior decorating... Otherwise it might be rather sparse." she chuckled

Rapunzel grinned, "Can I paint a wall?"

Elsa chuckled, "I can help you move and pick out furnishings, if you want."

"Yes, Raps, I'll give you one wall to paint as you want. Thanks, Elsa, I could use a hand. Thankfully I don't have that much stuff yet." Cassandra smiled

Elsa smiled, "Then between the two of us, it should go pretty quickly."

Rapunzel grinned and snuggled Pascal, "I need to get started sketching!"

"And I do need to pick out a bed..." Cassandra added with a wink. "Okay, I have to admit, that little chameleon is adorable."

Elsa smiled, "It was just the first thing I thought of..."

"Ugh, again guys, stop being adorable!" Anna groaned, her hangover starting to hit her again "I'm just gonna go crawl under the blankets and make the evil sunlight go away."

Cassandra laughed, but it did cause a bit of an issue for her having a place to be. "So... wanna get a head start on shopping?"

Elsa chuckled, "Yes, let's."

Cassandra spent the next few days finishing packing and cleaning her half of the dorm room and getting furniture ordered to be delivered the next week. By Friday of the following week, her new apartment was painted, except the wall she promised Rapunzel and she had managed to assemble her furniture and unpack all the boxes. The last item to arrive was her bed. Thankfully Elsa had been kind enough to let her share hers that week, which Cassandra had absolutely no issue with, content to snuggle the crap out of her girlfriend. She took a picture of her bed, perfectly made, and sent it over to Elsa "So... I think this needs to be properly christened. Come over for dinner later?"

Elsa saw the text and accidentally froze the bottle of water in her hand. She quickly thawed it and texted back, "Sounds perfect." She tried to keep cool, but she wasn't sure if Cassandra was really implying what she thought she was or if it was her overthinking things. There was only one way to find out.

Cassandra busied herself with making a spinach and cheese lasagna for them. She set the table and lit some scented candles that made it smell like cinnamon and apples, since Elsa seemed to be fond of cider. After everything was ready she took some time to appreciate the space. Thank goodness for Ikea free shipping. Elsa had helped her pick out shelves and bookcases that matched the furniture and the navy and white color scheme. It was clean and tidy, and everything had its place. She was grateful for Elsa's help, interior decorating was not her strong suit. She had set aside the second room for her weights and her weapon safe.

Elsa took extra time getting ready, picking a silky ice blue dress that came down just above her knees, some simple but classy silver heels, and a puffy jacket to keep people from staring. This was only for Cassandra, after all. She gave her hair a little curl with her chilled fingers to keep its shape, then headed to Cassandra's. She'd seen the elements, of course, but she was still excited to see the mostly finished product. She knocked on Cassandra's door and waited, butterflies in her chest.

Cassandra hopped up and answered the door, gasping softly, her breath caught in her chest "Wow... you look absolutely amazing!" she moved out of the way to let Elsa in, helping her out of her jacket "Nice touch..." she smirked "Please come in!" she snuck a quick kiss on her cheek as she passed.

Elsa smiled and stepped inside, taking off her coat with Cassandra's help as she looked around at the apartment. "Wow... It looks wonderful!"

Cassandra chuckled "You saw all the parts, I mean, you picked out 95% of the stuff in here."

"But I haven't seen it all together yet!" She beamed, "You found the perfect places for everything."

"That's true." Cassandra grinned, feeling rather proud of her work and getting this reaction from the architect. "So, can I show you around a bit?"

Elsa offered her arm with a smile, "Thought you'd never ask."

Cassandra smiled and looped herself around Elsa "So I turned the spare room into a workout and office space... and there's the bathroom... and most importantly, bedroom. Think the King size is big enough?" She smirked and nudged her with her hip.

Elsa blushed and chuckled, "I would think so, yes..." In truth she wasn't very good at innuendo. She knew what she was saying, of course, but that didn't make it any easier for her to respond the right way.

Cassandra blushed when she saw Elsa's awkwardness "For sleeping of course. What were you thinking?" which of course only made her grin more.

Elsa rubbed her arm, "Well, you know..." She chuckled uneasily, the room grew a few degrees colder. She pulled away gently, but still held her hand. "Maybe we should talk about... Expectations? I just... I've never done anything with anyone before, not even kissed until you."

Cassandra nodded and took a step back "Yeah, we probably should. I just want you to be comfortable and I definitely do not want you to feel pressured if you're not ready for something, okay? We can go as fast or slow as you like. As long as I'm with you, I'm happy. Does that match yours? And I'm pretty much as green as you are with this whole relationship thing... too focused on school or work or the military to let myself get distracted as a kid."

Elsa smiled and nodded, relieved. "Thank you. I just... I've never felt much of a desire for... For anything beyond just contact. That's not to say I'm not open to it, but I want to be honest with you. Is that something that worries you?"

"And that's okay, too, I'm kind of in the same boat, I think. I mean, I'd like to try it at some point in my lifetime..." Cassandra chuckled.

Elsa blushed and nodded, "Yes... People seem quite thrilled with it."

"It can't be that bad... I mean, it's got its own movie genre..." Cassandra laughed "All I know is I just want this." she pulled Elsa in for a hug, kissing her forehead. "I'm sorry if my text earlier implied I was looking for something more."

Elsa held her close and nuzzled against her, "You have nothing to be sorry for. I just got a little panicked, and I figured we should talk through it."

"Never meant to panic you." Cassandra held her close a moment longer before pulling away and looking deeply into her eyes "And please let me know if you ever feel uncomfortable with something, okay?"

Elsa nodded and looked into her eyes, "I will, I promise. And I know you didn't mean to, how could you know until we talked about it?"

"Exactly. Weird, talking through stuff." Cassandra smiled softly, kissing her once more on the forehead "So, dinner should be about ready, are you hungry?"


	10. Chapter 10

Time flew by quickly, and before Cassandra knew it, it was spring break, which is when Elsa had booked their cabin getaway. Since winter break, Cassandra had been content to just kiss and cuddle with Elsa, and although she couldn't help but feel curious for more. Despite her feelings, she was sure to respect boundaries and not push Elsa further than what she was comfortable with. Beyond physical desires, she could feel herself falling more and more in love, though she didn't have the nerve to say it yet. Everything about Elsa was amazing. She was beautiful, strong, had an amazing talent for architectural designs, and she was learning to control her powers better. 

The day of departure was finally upon them and Cassandra had packed and unpacked and repacked her bag, trying to think of what all she would need, maybe a nicer outfit in case they wanted to have a date night in, but comfortable flannels were a must. It had made her feel a little awkward at first, how fancy Elsa dressed compared to her more relaxed approach to clothes, but she found a happy medium with button up shirts and jeans. Once she was satisfied with her choices, she loaded up the car with her clothing bag and food supplies for the weekend and pulled out her phone to text Elsa she was ready.

Elsa packed her bag at least a dozen different times, trying to make sure she had everything she might need. She was excited, but nervous. She'd grown ever more fond of Cassandra as the days went by, treasuring how she brought her food while she was holed up in her studio, how she made her laugh and warmed her from the inside out. She was beyond excited for their trip and ready to get away from school, from pressure, from everything. She pulled out her phone when it vibrated and smiled at the text, "Me too."

"I'll be right over. 10 minutes" Cassandra texted back, turning off the lights. She left a fridge full of leftovers and prepared meals, she told Anna and Rapunzel they could hang out in her house while she was away and she knew those two couldn’t cook anything edible.

Elsa finally decided her bags had to be good enough, and she put on some comfortable slacks and a light blouse and packed some snacks, then headed outside to wait for Cassandra.

Cassandra pulled up to Elsa's apartment in a GMC Terrain that she had rented for the weekend. Besides, Elsa's Prius couldn't handle the snow and road. She smirked when she parked and helped load Elsa's bags into the back "Mmm, ready?"

Elsa smiled as she saw Cassandra drive up. "More than ready. Let's get out of here. I can't wait to be out in nature again..."

Cassandra grinned and pulled out and onto the highway. 

It was a 2 hour drive out of town, though buildings gave way to trees after just a few minutes. The snow on the side of the roads was virtually untouched, save the banks built up from the snow plow "This is beautiful." Cassandra remarked, one hand on the wheel, the other tickling Elsa's palm.

Elsa smiled broadly as she saw the snow. She chuckled, and nodded. "I love it more than anything." She cracked the window so she could smell the fresh snow in the air, the pines and firs.

Cassandra grinned, just happy to see Elsa so revitalized. She had been a little worried about her physical and mental stability after pulling all-nighter after all-nighter to get her projects done. And she couldn't deny she was just looking forward to some time away and privacy. Despite having their own dorm room, it seemed like Rapunzel and Anna were over the majority of the evenings each week. "I'm glad." 

Finally, Cassandra pulled the SUV into a secluded driveway, grateful that the car had 4 wheel drive. She urged the vehicle up the road up the road until a little cabin came into view. "Here we are!" she grinned, finally putting the car into park and hopping out into shin-deep snow. "Oh, it's so cute, even better than the brochure!"

Elsa looked around excitedly, more focused on the forest than the cabin. "It's perfect."

Cassandra grinned, "Wanna help me unpack and we can go for a hike after?"

Elsa nodded, "Okay!" She trotted to the back of the car and grabbed her bags, following Cassandra into the cabin.

Cassandra grabbed her bag and a couple of bags of food, reluctantly taking two trips, but she didn't want to fall and drop the eggs or something. Inside was very rustic, a black wood burning stove and a note saying there was limited running water. "This is cute, too."

Elsa smiled and nodded, "I love it. This is the best gift I could imagine. And I'm glad I get to spend it with you."

Cassandra beamed, feeling rather proud of herself. Once she had put away the perishable items, she pulled on an extra pair of wool socks and her winter boots. "Okay, I'm ready!"

Elsa took off her coat, setting it aside with a smile. "Me too."

"Show off..." Cassandra chuckled "I'm glad you can be yourself out here. I brought my skates, too. There's a lake not far from here. Maybe we can go tomorrow."

Elsa nodded with a grin, "Yes! But first, let's explore." She headed out of the cabin and into the woods, excited. She wasn't worried about getting lost or turned around.

Cassandra grinned and followed her, marking trees every 30 feet with little plastic ribbons she had brought.

Elsa explored with a grin on her face, creating little sculptures as they went, more out of fun than anything.

"I’ll never get over seeing you work your magic… Plus, that seems like a much more environmentally friendly way of marking our trail than these little things... I mean, I was going to collect them on our way back, but still." Cassandra chuckled in awe of her girlfriend, putting her tape away.

Elsa chuckled, "Oh, I didn't even think about that... I just love making them."

Cassandra smiled and then surged forward, lifting Elsa up and twirling her around in the air "I'm so glad to see you enjoying yourself"

Elsa laughed and sent snowflakes spinning out around them, careful not to hit Cassandra. She was feeling so much more confident in herself lately, and she attributed much of that to Cassandra.

Cassandra smiled as the snow started to fall in their own personal flurry, kissing Elsa quickly before setting her down. She sat down in the snow and watched the flakes fall around her "I wish we could stay out here like this. And it's only been an hour."

"We have time." She smiled, "I don't want to think about this ending... it's too perfect."

Cassandra grinned "That we do, and it doesn't have to end here... we can come out here whenever, okay?"

Elsa nodded, "Perfect. And if the cabin isn't available... Maybe I could make us one."

Cassandra chuckled "Only if we can add a stove, only one of us isn't affected by being cold. And I've already had my brush with hypothermia for the next few years, 'kay?"

Elsa chuckled, "Of course. But there are plenty of ice houses out there that are livable. I can make it with enough features you'll barely know it's made of ice."

Cassandra grinned and rolled over, propping herself up on an elbow to stare at her a moment "You are absolutely amazing, you know that?"

Elsa chuckled and reached out to play with her hair, "Do you know that you are?"

Cassandra smiled and pressed her cheek into Elsa's hand "mmm... I think you've told me a few times." She reached over and attempted to caress Elsa's hip, but the bulky gloves she was wearing made it less efficient than she'd have liked. "That’s just not fair... so, do you want to keep going a little further or head back? If the former we should probably get heading back in about 30 minutes, sun will go down soonish and we should get the fire going and something on the stove for dinner, I haven't cooked on a stove like that before, not sure how long it will take."

Elsa nodded, "Let's head back then. I can help gather firewood? I think I can draw out the moisture!"

Cassandra nodded "that would be awesome! Your wonders never cease to amaze me." She thought about tossing in a pet name, but she hadn't thought of one and babe seemed too generic, and Elsa hadn't seemed to want one nor did she use one for her. Maybe they just hadn't gotten there in their relationship yet.

Elsa smiled and nodded, "I'll come in and see if I can't draw the cold out of the cabin before getting started on firewood."

Cassandra nodded and started trudging back to the cabin, gloved hand trying to hold Elsa's bare skin. Eventually she gave up and playfully shoved her into a snowbank, feeling fully confident that Elsa would be unable to retaliate.

Elsa laughed and lifted a chunk of the snow bank over her head, dropping it on top of Cass as she got back to her feet.

Cassandra grinned and rubbed the snow off of her head, doing a cold dance as the snow got into her parka. "Somehow I did not see that coming."

“Ha, that’s what you get for bringing a snowball to an avalanche…” Elsa laughed and gently lifted all of the snow off of her parka, "Why don't we settle it with a snowball fight?" She winked.

Cassandra chuckled "Only if you promise no powers."

Elsa winked, "Mmm less fun, but I could manage."

Cassandra grinned "I mean, if you think you need to use your powers in order to beat me, then be my guest...I believe the phrase is 'come at me'." she coaxed Elsa's competitive side, reaching down to pack a snowball, lobbing it at Elsa's shoulder.

Elsa laughed as the snowball hit and bent down to scoop up some snow, patting it into a ball. "Oh, you're in for it now."

Cassandra tried to rapidly build snowballs as she ran through the forest in the direction of their cabin, following Elsa’s snow sculptures. She needed this, just a little time to themselves to be silly and carefree. She felt a snowball smack her shoulder and turned to throw another ball at Elsa.

Elsa grinned and kept balling up new ammo by hand, flinging it at her as she tried to dodge the incoming snowballs as well. It felt so normal and natural, it was so easy being with Cassandra.

Cassandra kept at it until the cabin came into sight, then flopped down into the snow, utterly exhausted from breaking trail through thick snow. "Wow... I think you win. You look like you barely broke a sweat!"

Elsa laughed, "The cold isn't a problem, I still have a natural advantage... But you had better aim."

Cassandra grinned and sat up "mmm, that's true. But you got some really good shots in!" She hopped up "Well, would you like spaghetti for dinner? Seems something fast and easy to make..."

Elsa nodded, "Sounds good to me."

Cassandra nodded "I think the woodpile was out back, I'll start bringing in logs if you wanted to try that little trick you were talking about with the moisture?"

Elsa nodded, "Perfect. Hopefully it works!"

"Either way, it's gonna be great." Cassandra loaded up her arms with wood, dropping it off on the porch for Elsa before going back for a second load. She wasn't sure how fast wood burned and she didn't want to be stuck going on a wood run in the middle of the night.

Elsa sat beside the wood and focused on sensing the ice and moisture inside of the logs, carefully pulling it from the wood and into the air.

Cassandra grinned as she watched Elsa work, completely mesmerized. Once Elsa had demoisturized a couple logs, she got a fire going in the stove and soon the cabin was toasty warm. Only then did she shed her warm layers "I think I'm going to get the water started for the noodles but then take a bath in the meantime. Our snowball fight was more of a workout than I was expecting."

Elsa smiled and nodded, "I can keep an eye on the water, you relax. You may be the cook, but noodles I can handle."

Cassandra smiled and kissed her forehead before sweeping into the kitchen to get a pot and water. She had wanted to invite Elsa but that may have been too much, but she couldn't help but feel a little coy, so she sauntered down the hallway towards their room and bathroom, hoping Elsa was watching as she pulled her shirt over her head, giving her just a little glimpse of her bare back. Any chance to show off her muscles a little, which she knew got a nice little reaction from Elsa. She had actually shown Elsa very little of her skin, always in a shirt and shorts at the least. 

Elsa watched her over her shoulder and blushed, smiling at the peek. She'd thought to ask about joining her, but the thought still made her nervous.

Cassandra enjoyed her bath, though she washed quickly, not wanting to miss out on any time with Elsa. She came out of the room in her pajamas, warm flannel bottoms and a white waffle textured long sleeved top. "So much better, thanks. How are the noodles coming along?"

Elsa stirred the pot with a smile, she'd just put the noodles in moments ago. "Just went in. Want to take over?"

"Mmm, perfect. If you're good continuing to keep an eye on the noodles, I can get the sauce going" Cassandra grinned and headed for the kitchen. As much as she liked cooking for Elsa, she liked sharing the task of cooking also. "Or if you wanted to take some time to clean up, I can finish food."

Elsa shrugged, "I like cooking with you. I didn't really break a sweat." She chuckled, "But thank you."

Cassandra nodded and busied herself in the kitchen, heating up a bottle of jarred sauce on the stove. She watched Elsa by the fire, the firelight danced across her face. Just when she thought her girlfriend couldn't be more beautiful, she stood corrected. She just stared at her with a dopey smile, her brain had more or less ceased to function.

Elsa noticed her glance and blushed, "What? Is there something in my hair?" She started picking through, thinking there might be a twig or something.

Cassandra shook her head and chuckled "Sorry... no, you're just so beautiful. I still can't believe it... that you want to be with me. I mean, you're way out of my league."

Elsa blushed and shook her head, "I really am not... I felt the same about you. You're so strong and sure of yourself, I thought you'd want someone with confidence to match."

"It's there, you just don't give yourself enough credit." Now it was Cassandra's turn to blush, she felt so warmed by Elsa's words. It was far from the truth, everything she did was cautious, careful, calculated. She was worried she would lose control and spiral back into her darkness, doubt ever gnawed at the back of her mind. Unable to form the words she was feeling she just walked over to Elsa and kissed her.

Elsa wrapped her arms around Cassandra's waist and kissed her back, holding her tight.

Cassandra knelt by the fire, holding Elsa as if her life depended on it. "I gotta say, I picked a damn good anchor." she smiled, pulling away. Those weren't the words she had wanted to say, she quietly grimaced to herself and let go to check the noodles "These are done. Shall we?" She got to her feet and offered Elsa her hand.

"But an anchor without a strong tether would sink too far. You keep me level." She replied with a soft smile, taking her hand. 

Cassandra smiled and hugged her quickly before grabbing the pot of noodles. "Well, this isn't the fanciest meal we've had together, but I have a feeling it's gonna hit the spot just right. I worked up quite a hunger in the snow." She smiled over at Elsa as she drained the noodles and added the sauce, sliding her a plate of spaghetti goodness before diving into her own plate. 

Cassandra made sure Elsa got enough to eat and then took the liberty of finishing off the pack of spaghetti, less trash to have to carry out, she reasoned with a grin. "So, what would you like to do now?"

Elsa snuggled up close and smiled, "I'm up for anything, as long as it involves you."

Cassandra smiled and snuggled her back "Mmm... you play chess at all? I saw a set in the bedroom."

After a couple hours of chess, during which Cassandra losses ranged from embarrassingly quickly to actually holding her own, she yawned and stretched "I don't know about you, but I'm bushed and I don't think my butt can take another chess spanking. You're like a chess grandmaster! Seriously, is there anything you're not good at?" she teased softly and set the board aside, pulling Elsa into her lap to cuddle a moment before standing up, still holding Elsa, and carried her to bed to continue their cuddling, though eventually she did have to let Elsa go so she could get ready for bed. Cassandra rolled over and was asleep before Elsa could even make it back from brushing her teeth.

Elsa returned from the bathroom, now in her pajamas, finishing brushing out her long platinum blond hair. She chuckled to herself when she saw Cassandra passed out on the bed, lying face down in her pillow. She turned off the lights and crawled up onto the bed next to her, wiggling under her arm and allowing herself to relax and drift off to sleep.

Elsa slept comfortably under Cassandra’s arm for a while, but the darkness started to creep in. That familiar nightmare. Everything good in her life started to crumble, like an ice sculpture shattering in front of her. Anna first. Then Cassandra. And it was all her fault. Things were good, too good. She was worried of hurting someone if she got complacent. She had learned to push aside her feelings aside for so long, that letting something good happen, letting someone good happen, well, that just couldn't happen. What if she hurt Cassandra? She couldn't forgive herself if she hurt Cassandra her subconscious pushed through, the only solution was to put up walls and run, as she had done, as she always did.

Cassandra felt the temperature drop significantly, snow flurried around them. Her eyes shot open when she suddenly felt the warm woman she was holding was shivering, crying out in her sleep. “Elsa? Elsa, baby, it’s okay, I got you!” She shot up, holding her close, gently shaking her, trying to wake her up.

Elsa jolted awake, feeling Cassandra's arms around her. She clung to her, feeling hot tears on her cheeks. "You're... Oh no, did I hurt you, are you okay?"

Cassandra just hugged her tight, ignoring the chill on her skin from touching the ice that had radiated out from Elsa. "It's okay, I'm here, you're safe." She kissed her forehead softly, not sure how exactly to comfort her. Elsa had mentioned having nightmares before, but this? She was not prepared for how terrifying this was.

Elsa squeezed her eyes shut, she had to get this under control. She took a deep breath and focused on Cassandra's touch, her kiss, and felt the warmth flow through her, dispelling the ice. She cracked her eyes open, looking to Cassandra, "Did I hurt you?"

Cassandra shook her head "It was cold... really cold... but I'm not hurt..." she tried to subtly rub her knees, which were pressed against the ice that Elsa had created. "Don't worry about me... Are you okay? What happened?"

"Nightmare." She shook her head, "I'm so sorry..." she reached out to touch Cassandra’s leg where she was rubbing, she knew her ice had hurt her.

Cassandra held her close, pulling her onto her lap, her head resting against her chest "Do you want to talk about it? Why haven't you had one before with me? We've been sleeping together for months, well, not  _ sleeping together _ but you know, sleeping..."

Elsa wrapped her arms around herself, "I think you've been warding them off... But I still feel like something bad is going to happen. We've had so much good, it can't... It can't last, can it? I want it to, so badly..."

Cassandra listened intently, then pulled her back close to her "That's just your subconscious talking. You've spent your whole life pushing people away, expecting that if you let someone close to you, you'll inadvertently hurt them... but... this good, what we have, it can last. I'm not going anywhere... because you are good, and you  _ deserve _ good. You deserve to be loved... first by yourself, but also by those close to you. And I'll be waiting here until you feel that in your heart. Because, there are those around you who love you... like your sister..." she covered, this was not how she planned on telling Elsa how she felt...  _ there should have at least been candles, right? _

"You'll be waiting... Does that mean you think we should...?" She swallowed, her fear taking over. The room grew colder once again.

"Wait, what?" Cassandra furrowed her brow, apparently her words had been misunderstood. "We should what?"

"I mean, I know I'm not perfect, and you're right, I need to better learn to love myself, but I..." Elsa started cording fingers through her hair nervously, "I don't want to lose you, though."

"I'm not going anywhere." Cassandra was still confused "I'm here." she took Elsa's hand in hers and pressed it against her chest "Feel that? It's beating like a fucking drum, because I'm scared of losing you... I..."

Elsa searched her eyes, "So... You're not saying that you want to separate? You still want me?"

"What? Separate? No!" Cassandra held her at arm's length, searching her eyes. Then she chuckled softly "You thought I was trying to break up with you?"

Elsa nodded softly, "That's.. that's what it sounded like, I thought? I don't want that at all, but I... It didn't feel like too much of a stretch to assume. I've always wondered what I did to deserve you, I never felt like I did..."

Cassandra lifted her hands up and took Elsa's face in between her palms, gently rubbing the sides of her jaw with her thumbs "I could say the same for you. I want you, Elsa. I want to be with you. I'd fight through a hundred armies, walk a thousand miles… just to be with you… because I... because I love you, Elsa. I was just saying I wish you could see yourself the way I see you... maybe I didn't say it right. I'm not so good with words."

Elsa smiled in relief, "So... We're still us? Together?"

Cassandra nodded "Together."

Elsa nodded, slowly recounting what Cassandra had just said. "Wait... You... You love me?"

Cassandra blushed "Yes, I do."

Elsa put her hands on Cassandra's and smiled, blushing. "I love you too."

Cassandra smiled and looked away, shy a moment, then she looked up, searching Elsa's eyes a moment. "I really want to kiss you."

Elsa chuckled, "What's stopping you?"

Cassandra did not need any further persuasion, she pulled Elsa's face forward, her hands still cupping her jaw, leaning forward to close the distance between them. None of this was even close to what she had planned or expected. But she wasn't about to stop it, either.

Elsa kissed her deeply, putting her hands at Cassandra's shoulders, then around them.

Cassandra kissed her back, then pulled away a few inches, "I love you" she sighed softly into the space between their lips. "And we don't need to do anything else, you know... if you're not ready. I can't say I'm not curious, but if this is where we're at, I'm good with that, too."

Elsa smiled and nodded, "Thank you. I... I am curious, but nervous to do more."

Cassandra nodded "I'm scared, too... but can we still keep cuddling?"

Elsa grinned and wrapped around her, snuggling her happily. "Always."

Cassandra smiled and laid down, pulling Elsa close to her, her fingers playing in her hair, then found their way down to her hip "Is this okay?"

Elsa nodded, "Yes."

Cassandra smiled softly and closed her eyes, resting her forehead against Elsa's, her thumb making small circles across her hip. "Good night, Elsa. I'll be here when you wake up, I promise."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Going to take a little hiatus from this story. (We're working on a couple of other stories atm)   
> Thank you for reading so far and we hope you have enjoyed. Also, when we come back, prepare for the rating to get upped a few notches...


	11. Chapter 11

True to her word, Cassandra held Elsa tight, trying to keep her nightmares at bay that night, and every night she could after they returned from their cabin getaway. Elsa was under a tremendous amount of stress as the second half of spring semester was in full swing. Cassandra felt a little bad that her class load was so light in comparison, so she spent her time busy at the cafeteria, gym, or with Rapunzel and Anna (who were slowly migrating from their dorm to her place). Tiana had made her a manager, which was a nice change, though she was certain she scared most of the other students when she walked them through training. It wasn’t her fault that she held herself and others to exceptionally high expectations.

As the six month anniversary of officially being Elsa’s girlfriend approached Cassandra decided she wanted to treat Elsa to a fancy dinner. The timing was perfect, all of the finals were over, as were Elsa’s grad school projects, so they could have a night to themselves to relax. She made arrangements well in advance to make sure they had a reservation and even picked up a sleek black suit for the occasion. Of course she had told Rapunzel of her plan and also picked her brain for assistance with the more romantic aspects that she still struggled with. So she knew Anna knew. And therefore Elsa would at least know to dress up fancy, but she hoped that Raps and Anna would at least keep some of the details quiet.

A few minutes prior to schedule, Cassandra pulled up in front of Elsa’s apartment in a Terrain, just like the one she had rented for the weekend camping trip. She had to admit she liked the size and the way it handled the road. She sat in silence, fiddling with her cufflinks, breathing deeply to calm herself. She felt nervous, excited. They had been dating for months and usually when they had a date it was in the privacy of one of their homes. Neither of them were particularly social and Cassandra enjoyed the intimacy of preparing a home cooked meal for them to share. This was their first night out on the town. And the butterflies were killing her.

Finally she got out of the car, grabbing the dozen of red roses and chocolates she had picked up (Raps' suggestion) and made her way up to Elsa's unit. She knocked quickly and took a step back to wait for Elsa to open the door.

Elsa had tried picking out dresses the traditional way, even with Anna providing feedback, but even just standing in the fitting room looking at the different fabric made her horribly nervous, and every time she ended up leaving without a single purchase. She stayed home instead, trying out some different looks by conjuring icy fabrics made exclusively through her powers. It was something she'd done a few times now, and each time she practiced, she was happier and happier with the outcome. Cassandra had told her to dress formally, so she wanted to impress. 

After many different tries, she finally found the look she wanted. She'd made herself a fitted bodice of iridescent material with a looser layer draped over one shoulder that fell all the way to the ground in a broad sweep like a cape, almost. She draped the skirt in a smooth sweep from her waist down to the floor, the layers crossing over one another at her hip. A long slit reached nearly up to her hip, more risqué than she ever thought she would have gone, but it made her feel bold. Alluring. She wanted to feel that way, wanted to look that way. For Cassandra. 

Dress taken care of, she focused on her hair, trying several different up-dos before settling on keeping it down. She brushed her long locks over one shoulder, the rest fell neatly down her back. Somehow, she wasn't nervous when she looked in the mirror. She felt more like herself than she ever had. 

When she heard the knock at the door, she smiled to herself and turned to face the front door and called out as she unlocked the door with a twist of her magic, "Come in."

Cassandra straightened out her jacket before pushing the door open, quickly stepping in with her bouquet and chocolates. "Elsa?" She called out, looking around. When her eyes settled on Elsa standing in the living room, her brain instantly misfired, her heart beating hard in her chest. She just stood there in the entryway, mouth hanging open, eyes greedily looking her up and down, unable to do much else. Words were not happening. "Wow." she finally managed. "You look... like a goddess..."

Elsa smiled at her, enjoying the way her eyes scanned her from head to toe. She returned the favor, looking over Cassandra in her perfectly tailored suit. She looked incredible, sharp. Capable. Handsome. Elsa stepped closer to her and ran her hand over Cassandra's arm, "And you look positively dapper... Hi." She smiled and chuckled a little shyly.

Cassandra shivered happily at the touch and finally managed to close her mouth, "Hi..." she responded shyly "Thank you. I just... wow." Her mind was still in overdrive, and she was struggling not to run her hands up and down that silky looking dress, the provocative thigh high slit was making that increasingly difficult. "Oh, these are for you." She handed her the little gifts with a smile.

Elsa accepted the gifts with a broad smile, "Thank you! They're lovely... And you know I'll never say no to chocolate... here, let me put these in a vase." She kissed Cassandra's cheek and made her way to the kitchen to find a suitable vessel, then filled it with water and put the roses carefully inside. She frosted the vase with a careful touch and set it on the window sill with a smile. "There. Now, where are we off to?" She sauntered back to Cassandra, offering her arm.

Cassandra couldn't help but stare at the sway of her hips but finally got her mind in line enough to offer her arm back, holding her close as she led the way back down to the car, holding the door open for her. "It's a surprise." Cass winked "But I think you'll like it."

Elsa slipped into her car, smiling all the while. "I never used to like surprises... but you've been changing that."

Cassandra grinned "Well, I could say the same for you... " she held Elsa's hand as she drove toward downtown. She had made reservations at _La Polari_ , an upscale Italian bistro, also known for having a particularly romantic atmosphere. As soon as she pulled into the parking lot, a valet attendant hopped over, handing her a ticket with a shallow bow and "Please enjoy your meal." Cassandra smiled and went over to Elsa, wrapping her arm across her back, hand settled on her hip as they walked into the brick building. "Shall we, love?"

Elsa looked up at the restaurant as they walked up, "Wow... I've always wanted to try this place" she admitted with a grin, "Yes, please."

Cassandra beamed, feeling rather proud of herself. Without a word, the hostess scanned her reservation list and quickly led them to a candle-lit booth in the back corner of the restaurant. "Happy anniversary, Elsa" she smiled as she took her seat

Elsa blushed and smiled at Cassandra, stealing a quick kiss before she took her seat in the booth. "Happy anniversary." She folded her napkin neatly on her lap. "You're really outdone yourself, Cassandra. I have something for you too, when we get back."

"Oh? What is it?" Cassandra perked up. Before Elsa could answer, their server came by with two bottles of wine under their arm. "Good evening, and thank you for joining us at _La Polari_. Would you care for red or white?" Cassandra looked over at Elsa "Mi'lady?"

Elsa smiled, "A riesling, please." She glanced at Cassandra to make sure that would suit her as well.

Cassandra nodded her approval, though she was not much for drinking wine, the situation seemed appropriate.

The server poured a small amount of wine into a glass and handed it to Elsa to try to confirm that she was satisfied with the choice before pouring two glasses, leaving the bottle in a little ice bucket. This was not the kind of restaurant where single glasses was optional.

Elsa held up her glass to Cassandra with a smile. "To six wonderful months. I never dreamed I could be this happy."

Cassandra raised her glass as well "And to so many more. I'm thankful I get to share them with you."

Elsa nodded and sipped to end their toast. "I was so cold when we met... so closed-off. I don't think that would have changed without you."

Cassandra followed suit "I dunno, when we met you looked pretty hot to me. But in seriousness, I feel the same way. I never thought I could have this kind of happiness with anyone. I never allowed myself to dream. And then you walked in and thawed my heart."

Elsa snickered, "How many jokes about cold and ice can we make tonight, do you think? Should we start keeping count?"

"Hmm... you're on." Cassandra chuckled and took another sip of her wine before picking up the menu. "Please order whatever you want, this is our night."

Elsa looked down at the menu, perusing the Italian faire listed there. "Mmm... so many delicious options. I think I'll have the lobster ravioli, that sounds incredible. What about you?"

"The Beef Lasagna Bolognese looks very good." Cassandra set down her menu as the server returned with an array of breads and dipping oils and took their order. She scooted her foot forward, trying to find Elsa's leg for a little contact with a grin. "I remember the first time I accidentally played footsie with you in the library. This time it's on purpose."

Elsa chuckled and nudged her foot against Cassandra's with a wink. "I quite like it when it's on purpose."

Cassandra blushed, losing herself in Elsa's crystal gaze. "How did I ever get so lucky?"

Elsa blushed and shook her head, "I'm the lucky one."

Cassandra grinned "Guess we both are the lucky ones then." she offered her hand across the table.

Elsa took her hand and squeezed it with a smile. "We're both lucky." She agreed.

Cassandra rubbed her thumb over Elsa's cool knuckles. "So, what's the surprise you had for me?"

"It's a surprise." She winked, "I can do those, too."

Cassandra smirked "Fine, fair is fair. Have I told you how beautiful you look? I mean, you are beautiful... just... that dress... you really went all out, didn't you?" She faltered, not sure if her compliment came across right.

Elsa smiled and squeezed her hand once more. "Thank you... I searched longer than I care to admit, and finally decided to make it myself." She admitted, "I'm glad you like it."

"You are so talented, it still blows my mind" Cassandra chuckled. The server came with their food and Cassandra eagerly tucked in. She smiled at how daintily Elsa cut her food, noting that she cut her food with her fork facing downward. It was strange to her, but oddly endearing.

Elsa ate happily, thoroughly enjoying her food and wine. "This is the best meal I've had in a long, long time."

Cassandra stopped eating and fixed Elsa with a raised eyebrow "Oh really?"

"Since that first meal you made in the dorm," She smiled, clarifying, "You've made great things since then, but that one was just amazing."

Cassandra chuckled "I was trying so hard to impress you."

"And it worked. Very, very well." She winked.

Cassandra smiled and took a few more bites in silence "So, when does your summer internship start again?"

Elsa brightened, "June 3rd. But it's in town, so I won't be far."

Cassandra beamed, she was so proud of Elsa. "That's awesome! God, I have the most amazing girlfriend." she took the opportunity to top off both of their wine glasses. "And... umm... out of curiosity, will you be renewing your lease next year?"

Elsa smiled shyly, "I... haven't yet." She admitted, but she didn't want to assume, and she didn't want to just invite herself to live with Cassandra…

Cassandra took a large gulp of wine "Would you... would you like to move in with me? It seems kind of silly, having two places when we're together almost every night. And I can move my work out stuff out of the spare room if you wanted to set up your own space there... like if you ever needed some private time or something..."

Elsa grinned and nodded, "Yes!" She blurted out, then blushed, "I mean, yes. That would be wonderful."

Cassandra beamed, fighting the urge to go over and sweep Elsa up off her feet right then and there "Really?"

Elsa nodded, "I would love nothing more. And it just makes sense, we do spend so much of our time at one another's places, so... it's perfect."

Cassandra smiled shyly into her food "I've wanted to ask you that for a while..." she admitted quietly "I always thought you were so far out of my league. I never imagined that you would want to be with someone like me. I mean, you're so beautiful. And loving. And talented. I still can't believe you're real."

Elsa tucked some hair behind her ear with a shy smile. "I never thought I deserved love... much less from someone as strong and kind and capable as you. You're incredible. My very own Wonder Woman."

Cassandra blushed "Neither did I... especially because of everything I did before I met you. But you told me once that what I did in my past didn't define who I am, but how I moved forward from it. I must say, think I picked a damn good anchor. I'd be so lost without you."

Elsa smiled and reached for her hand once more and squeezed, "Even without me, you are responsible for a lot of your own growth. Don't forget that. I'm glad I could help you get there, though."

Cassandra squeezed her hand back "thank you."

Elsa and Cassandra finished their meal after some more discussion on just how much they meant to each other, each practically in puddles of feelings by dessert.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is explicit.

Cassandra drove them back to Elsa's place, she never wanted to assume Elsa would invite her up, so she wanted to always give her that option, trying to respect Elsa's personal space and time. She parked the car out front, engine still running. "Thank you for a wonderful evening. Can I walk you to your door?"

Elsa smiled, "Will you come inside? I still have some anniversary surprises for you, after all."

"Of course." Cassandra grinned and turned the car off, hopping out quickly and hurrying around to open Elsa's door. She had forgotten about her promised surprise.

Elsa climbed out and smiled, still holding her hand as she led her up to her door. She quickly unlocked it and let her inside, letting go of her hand to fetch a small long box from a drawer by her couch. It had a simple white ribbon around the outside, and she handed it to Cassandra with a smile, "Happy Anniversary."

Cassandra took the box, looking at it curiously before sliding the ribbon off and opening it. Inside was a necklace, the white gold pendant the shape of a snowflake with subtle aquamarine and amethyst gem details. "Oh, Elsa..." she gasped, picking it up for a closer look "It's... it's... beautiful" she stuttered at a loss of words "thank you. Will you help me put it on?" 

Elsa happily moved behind her to clasp it, "I know you don't wear much jewelry, and you don't have to wear it all the time, but I thought maybe it might help remind you of me. You could also just hang it up somewhere if you wanted, I just saw it and..." She trailed off, pulling away to look at her hopefully, "You really like it?"

Cassandra turned around, feeling the weight settle against her chest. While it was true that she was generally not one to wear jewelry, especially fancy jewelry, she felt like the pendant symbolized Elsa, and she could have her close even when their schedules kept them apart. In the past when she had tried to wear a necklace it felt foreign and unwelcome. But this felt natural, like it was meant to be there. A symbol of their love. She couldn't find the words that would do justice to what she was feeling, she nodded and quickly reached for Elsa's hands and pulled her close, leaning down to kiss her. She broke away after a moment and gray eyes met deep blue "I love it. And I love you. I'll always carry it close to my heart."

Elsa kissed her back and blushed, "I love you... and I have one more surprise, if you're, um, ready for it?" She took a step back, "Would you like to stay the night?"

"Of course. I'm glad I left an overnight bag here, though it will probably take me a little longer to get ready for bed. More layers than I usually wear." she grinned and made to step away toward the spare bathroom where she kept a pair of night clothes in the cabinet.

Elsa smiled, "I could help take them off...?" She suggested, reaching out to stop her.

Cassandra paused, blinking.  _ Did she hear her correctly? _ "You want to... yes, absolutely yes." she said quickly. She knew herself well enough to know that if she kept talking that she would say something stupid or give the wrong impression. Her breath hitched as she watched Elsa move closer to her.

Elsa reached out to unbutton her jacket and slowly worked it off of her shoulders. She set it gently on the couch, then began unbuttoning her vest next. "This... is the other surprise. I'm ready to try it." She said softly, chuckling when she found suspenders below her vest. "Cute. But a little unnecessary now, hm?"

Cassandra's eyes were trained on the hands moving across her clothes, but she looked up quickly when she heard what Elsa said "If you're ready... I don't want you to feel like you owe me anything or need to do anything you're not comfortable with. I love you no matter what."

Elsa blushed and nodded, "And that's why I trust you. Why I love you. I want to try it, with you. I've never known what all the fuss was about, and maybe I still won't get it, but we can at least have some fun trying, right? And honestly, the idea of snuggling you without clothes sounds really nice." She slipped Cassandra's suspenders off her shoulders and began to unbutton her shirt.

Cassandra's brain was misfiring almost as much as when she had first laid eyes on Elsa that evening "come what may, it all sounds perfect... As long as I'm with you" As much as she wanted to just let go and succumb to her own desires, she respected Elsa and wanted their first time to be more meaningful than a mindless fuck. She reached out to take Elsa by the waist, letting her thumbs swirl small circles across her stomach. Her breath hitched as she felt fingers moving across her shirt. She caught Elsa's gaze and nodded, silently giving her approval to remove her shirt. She was glad she had opted for a nice black bra (and matching underwear) rather than her usual sports bra and whatever was clean.

Elsa carefully worked off her shirt and peeled it off of her slowly, taking in the scars on Cassandra's right side with a gentle reverence. She looked up at her, then ran her fingers over them, getting to know her skin through her fingertips. "Mmm... we should even this out, would you like to...?" She leaned forward a little, offering Cassandra the one shoulder that held up her dress.

Cassandra slowly exhaled the breath she was holding in as Elsa removed her shirt and tossed it aside. She had never been bare in front of anyone (outside of the army, where modesty was low priority in the barracks) and definitely not after her accident. She suddenly felt vulnerable, exposed, anxious. But those worries melted away slowly when she felt cool fingers tracing over the raised imperfections of her skin, those impossibly blue eyes conveying nothing but love and acceptance. Her eyes widened when she heard Elsa's offer. She slowly reached down and took Elsa's hands in hers, giving them a gentle squeeze before sliding her hands up her slender arms. She gently cupped the sides of Elsa's neck and jaw, pulling their faces close for a slow kiss. After a moment she reached down and carefully slid the sheer fabric down and off her shoulder.

Elsa smiled and kissed her back, rolling her shoulder a little to assist. She slipped her own hand across Cassandra's side, feeling over the black fabric of her bra and her warm skin.

Cassandra kept her eyes locked on Elsa's, not looking down yet, even though she knew the dress had fallen, either completely off or pooled at her hips, but she wouldn't look until the field was even. She reached her left hand down Elsa's side, confirming there was no other clothing up top, before coming to rest with her fingers splayed across her hip, feeling the silky ice fabric there, her right hand reached behind and unclasped her own bra, shrugging out of it. She leaned in for one more quick kiss before taking a step back to finally let her eyes drift down.

Elsa let the fabric of her dress pool at her hips, lingering there for the moment. She could have dismissed it all entirely, but this being their first time, it felt more right to take turns. She looked at Cassandra's bare chest and reached out to cup one of her breasts in her hand, curious as to how it felt different from her own. She felt soft, and warm. So warm.

Cassandra gasped quietly at how beautiful Elsa was. While she did not have a particularly muscular frame she was still quite toned, and she was convinced she was looking at the most perfect set of breasts on the planet. She mirrored her girlfriend's motions, reaching up to take one of Elsa's in her own hand, loving the feeling of that soft perfect handful. She gently swirled her thumb across the hardened nipple, watching for her reaction, gasping softly at the feel of cool hands on her own.

Elsa let out a little gasp at the touch and chuckled, her hand dipping lower on Cassandra to feel over her abs. "Mm... so strong."

Cassandra chuckled and took the opportunity to flex her abs, well aware of the defined muscles there, even with a full stomach. "You don't know the half of it. You'd better hold on tight." She reached down and grasped Elsa by the hips, lifting her up to straddle her waist, walking toward the bedroom.

Elsa chuckled, then squeaked and laughed as she locked her legs around Cassandra's waist. "Oh! Hello..."

Cassandra kissed her softly as she walked, first the lips then along her jaw and neck, the position they were in gave her wonderful access. She knew the way to the bed, probably could have walked there blindfolded. Once there she set her down on the edge of the bed. "Just let me know if it's too much or if you feel out of control and I will stop right away."

"You'd see snowflakes." She chuckled back, "But I'll tell you how I'm feeling." Elsa promised, pushing herself a little further back on the bed. "I'll be honest, I don't really know what to do from here..."

Cassandra nodded as she crawled up onto the bed next to her. "Learning experience for us both." She smiled and leaned down to kiss her with a little more passion and urgency, propped up on one hand, the other wrapped into thick platinum blonde hair, cradling the back of Elsa's neck.

Elsa kissed her back, leaning into her. "The teacher has become a student all over again, hm?" She chuckled.

Cassandra growled softly, “you had the sexy professor look down to a T. I had a really hard time paying attention in class... even worse for those weeks I couldn’t hear, because all I could do was stare...” she admitted

Elsa blushed and laughed, "Oh, is that a thing for you then?"

“Just for you.” Cassandra smirked and then started peppering her neck and shoulder with soft kisses, then down further across her chest. She untangled her free hand and brought it lower to go back to massaging that perfect right breast, gently rolling the nipple between her fingers.

Elsa chuckled softly and arched into her touch, "That feels nice." She murmured, tilting her head to the side.

Cassandra hummed happily, propping herself up on her knees before resuming her kissing, giving Elsa's other breast the same attention but with her lips and tongue. With her weight resting on her knees, her free hand trailed light path down her side, savoring the soft skin.

Elsa reached out to cup Cassandra's cheek, all of this was so new, and she felt so vulnerable and safe all at once. "I love you." She whispered.

"I love you, too." Cassandra looked up, crawling back up to kiss Elsa firmly on the lips. She propped herself up on her elbow again, gazing down at her face as her free hand slowly made its way further down, stopping at the fabric. "Are you sure?"

Elsa nodded, "I'm sure." She assured her with a smile. Their anniversary seemed like the perfect time to try something new together, and so far, it did feel nice. Why not keep going?

Cassandra dipped her hand underneath the fabric to move her hand along her thigh, then froze. She had noticed earlier that Elsa was sporting no panty-line so she had assumed perhaps a thong or something very sheer. She was not expecting nothing... "Oh, you little tease." she grinned

Elsa blushed, "More than just a tease, I hope." She chuckled, bravely waving a hand to allow the rest of the dress to disappear entirely.

For the third time that night, Cassandra's brain ceased to function. She stared a moment at the naked body in front of her before locking eyes with Elsa. She wanted to see her, watch her reactions. Elsa's ability to be quiet and reserved rivaled her own, but she could see the truth in her eyes. Her eyes did not lie. As her heart pounded hard in her chest, she dipped her hand low again, caressing the top of one of her thighs before shifting to rub the other. Her eyes never left Elsa's as her hand moved to the center, right above where her legs came together. Her eyes searched for permission.

Elsa gave Cassandra a small nod paired with a soft smile, reaching out to run her hand through Cass's hair for good measure.

Cassandra pressed her cheek against Elsa's palm, enjoying the feeling of cool fingers threaded in her hair. She hummed happily and moved her hand further down, her fingers finally touching her warmth. She carefully rubbed along her lips, surprised by how wet she felt. She shuddered happily, leaning down to kiss her again, her tongue flicked out of her mouth, tickling Elsa's bottom lip.

Elsa gasped softly at the sensations, shivering with a sort of pleasure she'd never truly felt before. She'd experimented with herself a few times, but never got very far and didn't really see the appeal. This, however, it was nice. Cassandra's touches were nothing like her own, and Cassandra seemed to be enjoying her reactions.

Cassandra played between the warm folds searching for her clit. Once she found it, she pressed a little firmer, swirling little circles around it with her fingertips. When she had tried experimenting on herself, this made her feel pretty good. Maybe it would be the same for Elsa.

Elsa bit her lower lip, tightening her grip in Cassandra's hair. "That's... nice." She smiled, panting a little.

Cassandra smiled softly, enjoying her reactions. As much as she was enjoying touching her, she felt hungry for more "Can I... go down there?" She wasn't entirely certain what came over her to make such a request, but she just decided to trust her instincts, and her instincts were telling her to get to the source.

Elsa nodded, watching her. This was all so new, she still wasn't quite sure what to expect.

Cassandra nodded and shifted off the bed, carefully removing her dress pants and underwear. Instead of lying next to Elsa as she had been, she settled on her knees between Elsa's legs, her hands resting on the pale knees at her sides. She sighed, her own nerves and doubts getting the best of her "I still can't tell if you want this."

Elsa leaned forward and reached for Cassandra, "I do. I just... it's completely new to both of us and I admit, I'm nervous. Mostly nervous that it's not going to be what you want it to be. I... It feels good to me, it really does. I just don't want to disappoint you."

Cassandra took Elsa's hand in hers, kissing each fingertip and her palm. "I don't really know what I'm doing, either. I mean, I'll admit I did look up a few videos, but it was gratuitously over-dramatized and fake, so it wasn't particularly helpful. I just want to make you happy. I don't want to disappoint you either."

Elsa chuckled and shook her head, "You couldn't disappoint me."

"Back at you, love. Everything feels wonderful to me, it makes me feel good trying to make you feel good." Cassandra started kissing her other hand the same way. "Shall I continue?"

Elsa nodded and smiled, "Yes, please."

That was all the confirmation Cassandra needed to set her nerves aside that she was doing something that Elsa didn't want. She placed her hands on either side of Elsa's shoulders and leaned down to kiss her, holding herself up on her knees and hands a moment before lowering her body down to press their bodies together. She shuddered happily, the skin on skin contact felt amazing. "At least we know naked cuddling will feel good later, right?"

Elsa giggled and nodded, "Oh, yes. It most definitely will." She held her tight, nuzzling against her.

Cassandra smiled down at her before trailing light kisses down along her body, positioning herself between her legs, finally gazing upon the sight in front of her. She pushed herself back a little and settled on her stomach, pulling Elsa's knees over her shoulders. She turned her head to kiss the inside of each thigh, gently sucking and blowing as her hand resumed its previous action before their talk.

Elsa murmured softly, letting her head fall onto the pillow as she simply enjoyed the sensations. "That's nice..."

Cassandra took that as a good sign and removed her hand, placing soft kisses across her warm lips. Her eyes flashed open wide a moment before she closed them again. She wasn't sure what to expect, but it was absolutely intoxicating. Elsa tasted so sweet. She kissed a little deeper, her tongue slipped out of her mouth as if it was acting on its own accord, licking a long stripe up the length of her slit.

Elsa groaned softly, tightening her legs around Cassandra's head a little. "Oh..."

Cassandra smiled, or would have smiled if her mouth didn't have such an important task in front of her. She dipped her tongue in a little deeper, eager to taste as much of her as possible, pumping it in and out of Elsa a couple of times before tilting her chin forward, her tongue seeking out her clit.

Elsa let her eyes fall shut, her mind drifting to just the sensations. She fell into a rhythm with Cassandra, her breathing began to quicken as pleasure warmed in her groin.

Cassandra shifted her attention between her warm entrance and clit, worried she would make one area too sensitive if she gave it too much pressure. Her own body was alight with excitement as she felt Elsa's legs start to twitch around her head. One hand made its way up to massage a breast, the other clung to the sheets as if her life depended on it.

Elsa reached out and stroked Cassandra's wandering arm, keeping her fingertips cool in hopes of sending chills down her skin.

Cassandra shivered happily at the touch, it spurred her to keep going, though she did feel a cramp starting to form. She pulled off a moment to pop her jaw back into place and dove back in with gusto. She felt Elsa's legs start to spasm, her hips bucking up against her lips as she desperately tried to bring her over the edge.

Elsa gasped as her pleasure began to climax, gripping Cassandra's arm as she came with a cry. "Oh! Ohhhhhhh..." She panted, coming down from the high with a contented sigh. "That was nice..." She smiled lazily.

Cassandra kept up her motions through Elsa's orgasm, not wanting to leave her wanting. When she felt the slender legs fall to the side she propped herself up on her elbows and wiped off her mouth, lazily grinning up at her girlfriend, feeling rather proud of herself. She crawled up the bed and flopped down alongside her, panting slightly from her effort, though she did have amazing endurance from all of her training. "I'm glad you enjoyed."

Elsa snuggled up next to her with a nod, "It's different than I expected..." She still couldn't say she felt the same way about it that everyone else seemed to, but it was nice.

Cassandra wrapped a strong arm around Elsa's waist, pulling their bodies close, her chin nuzzled against the curve of her neck "This is so much better naked." she murmured happily "Thank you for the best anniversary ever..."

Elsa chuckled and nodded against her, "I'm glad you enjoyed it... I did, too."

Cassandra closed her eyes, her thumb lazily rubbing Elsa's hip "Tired?"

Elsa nodded, "Are you sure you don't want me to try that on you?"

Cassandra shrugged "If you want, but it's not necessary. Honestly, doing that to you was pretty satisfying."

Elsa smiled and nodded, "Thank you. I'm very satisfied, too. I still feel... I feel like its different for me than most people. I know we've talked about it before, but... That doesn't bother you, does it? I mean, I enjoyed it, I very much did, but.. also I'd be perfectly happy if that was our only time. Not that it has to be our only time, just..."

Cassandra hugged her tight "It's okay... it does not bother me. I was curious, and now that my curiosity has been met, I also am okay if we just cuddle. Whatever happens, as long as I'm with you, it's perfect. There's no pressure from me either way, okay?"

Elsa smiled, relieved, and hugged her close, "I'm not opposed to doing it again, but... this is just as nice." She pressed her face into the skin of Cassandra's shoulder, kissing it softly.

"Agreed. If we do it again, fantastic... but I just like touching your skin and being close to you like this."

Elsa closed her eyes once more, "This is all I ever need." She snuggled up to her.

Cassandra murmured happily, breaking away for a moment to take her hearing aids out before curling up against Elsa, just enjoying their closeness, feeling the steady rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. Even in her wildest dreams she had never imagined she could have this kind of happiness, was worthy of this. Yet, here she was, laying next to the most perfect woman. Her heart was full of love as she slipped into a deep and contented sleep, holding Elsa close in her arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading their story! We hope you had as much fun reading as we did writing.
> 
> We've got a couple of other works posted and more in progress :)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. We hope you are enjoying it and please leave us comments!
> 
> Also, if anyone is feeling particularly artsy and has Tumblr, please feel free to tag any art to us, @Kamaro0917 and @Trousersquid, we'd love to see some fan art :)


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